Orpheus
by Athenaktt
Summary: COMPLETED! SheppardWeir. After a mission goes horribly wrong, John wakes up to find that Elizabeth doesn't exist.
1. Chapter 1

_**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of the characters of Stargate they are all property of MGM. So if you want them go beg the TPTB over there. Kthxbai_

_**Author's Notes: **I wrote this fic a while back, just never had to time to post it up here. Darn real life getting in the way of fandom. Argh. I started writing this fic after reading Terry Goodkind's latest "Sword of Truth" novel "Chainfire". So I blame Mr. Goodkind for this plot bunny. _

_**Timeline:**I planned this fic to be set before the end of Season 2. However, it can fit in Season 3, I think. Then again why should I care about he show's timeline when the TPTB haven't seemed to bother with the timeline for the last 10 years of SG-1?_

_**Spoilers:** Season 1 and Season 2 mostly._

_**Pairing: **Sheppard and Weir_

**Chapter 1**

Her heart pounded as she ran through the dense forest. She didn't know where she was, nor did she care which direction she was headed. All she knew was that John told her to run, and so she ran as fast as she could. She heard shots of a P-90 firing behind her. Without looking back, she kept running.

"Elizabeth!" a voice called out to her.

She slowed down her pace a little to give herself breath to speak.

"John? I'm right here!" she called back.

She flinched when a low hanging branch grazed her cheek. Her hand came up to touch the tender scratch and saw that it was bleeding, but now was not the time to worry about a scratch. She continued running until her path was blocked by a Wraith.

She halted and slowly took a step back. Her hand immediately unholstered her 9-mm. Holding the gun firmly with both hands, she pointed it at the Wraith.

The Wraith took another step towards her. This time Elizabeth pulled the trigger and fired everything she had into the Wraith.

For once, Elizabeth was glad that John convinced her to wear a vest and carry a weapon. She usually opted for none during diplomatic missions, but with John's persistence she conceded, at first, only to wearing the vest. However, when they reached M5G-382, John convinced her she needed to arm herself with a weapon this time.

Over the last couple of years, Elizabeth had learned to trust John in these matters. She also knew that John trusted and respected her in return. He would have never asked her to do anything she refused unless it was necessary, and carrying a weapon fell into that category.

Bang. Bang. Each shot rang out clearly in the dense forest.

Bang. Bang. Bang. Click.

As soon as her last bullet released from the gun's chamber, Elizabeth's hand fumbled over her vest pockets for her extra magazine. While concentrating on reloading her gun, Elizabeth kept an eye on her predator, who was still grinning hideously and slowly continuing his terrifying approach. She instinctively took another step back and pointed her reloaded gun back at the Wraith.

"Elizabeth!" She heard John frantically call for her as she started to shoot at the Wraith again. She only had to hold off the Wraith until John reached her with more ammunition.

Nine. Ten. Eleven...

She was nearing the end of her ammunition, but she stopped shooting when she saw the Wraith's movements staggered and it suddenly fell dead.

She let out a relieved breath, but her relief was short-lived when she heard footsteps approaching her position. She desperately searched for somewhere to hide and found a large tree trunk to hide behind. Leaning against the tree trunk, she held her gun up close to herself and waited. She hoped that it was not another Wraith.

The scheduled meeting with the people of M5G-382 had begun dreadfully wrong. When they had arrived at the village, something was amiss. The bustling friendly natives that John described were nowhere to be found. Before John could give the order to evacuate and return to the Stargate, they were suddenly attacked by the Wraith. That was when John told Elizabeth to run into the forest, where they would try to lose them.

Elizabeth held her breath as she heard the sound of crunching leaves from the nearing intruder. She could hear his every step getting closer and closer. His step slowed and stopped. She assumed he was probably observing her handy work on the Wraith. Then she heard him slowly step away from the dead Wraith's position and come closer to where she hid. She held her breath, afraid that her breathing might give her away.

With each step he came closer and closer. Elizabeth wasn't sure if she should run or confront her intruder. Before she had a chance to decide which option to take, out of the corner of her eye, she saw him. She jerked her gun out and pointed it at the intruder.

"Elizabeth!" John said with unadulterated relief and lowered his gun.

"I thought you were a..." Elizabeth said letting out a long breath as she relaxed her hands.

"Same here," John said with relief. "I heard gun shots— and— did you?" He finally gave up talking and pointed in the direction of the lifeless Wraith.

Elizabeth nodded. "Yeah, I did."

"Good job," he said impressed.

"Thanks, I had a good teacher," she smiled tiredly. "Now what?"

"We should make our way back to the Stargate." He pressed a button on his radio. "Major Lorne, this is Sheppard. What is your position? Report." The only response was static. John clicked on his radio again. "Major? Please respond, what's your status?" Static. "McKay? Teyla? Ronon? Anyone?" More static.

"Maybe there is something in the area that is disturbing the radio signals," Elizabeth suggested as she tried her radio. She too recieved only static as her reponse.

"Maybe," John said doubtfully.

"Do you have any idea where we are?" Elizabeth walked out from behind the tree back towards the direction the Wraith body laid.

"Not exactly, but I think this is the side of town the old man told us kids not to venture off to," John said prodding the Wraith with his feet.

"Old man?"

"Yeah, the Chief… old man… The person you were supposed to meet for a friendly chat today." John held his gun up and started to survey the area. "We should probably try to head back to the Stargate."

"What about the Wraith?"

"That might be a problem," he said as he started to walk forward.

"Are we—" Elizabeth stopped speaking when John held up a fist signaling for her silence.

His eyes darted around searching for the origin of the sound he heard. Suddenly he grabbed Elizabeth's hand and led her into denser vegetation to hide.

Elizabeth's heart began beating rapidly again as they hid behind a bush. Through the leaves, she saw several Wraith enter the spot she and John had just occupied. They stopped and surveyed the Wraith she had killed. She turned her head slightly to look at John. With John by her side, she felt somewhat calmer. Even though they were both far from safe, at least with John here, she felt safer than if she were alone.

John's expression was serious and tense as he watched the Wraiths movements. She watched him as he calculated what their next plan of action was as soon as the coast was clear.

One of the Wraith prodded the dead body with its stunner and looked up at its two other companions. The leader of the group hissed something and the others started to disperse.

John and Elizabeth remained in their hiding place until John was sure they had left.

"Looks like they are searching for us," he whispered to Elizabeth.

Elizabeth only nodded as she followed him out of their hiding place.

He led Elizabeth in the opposite direction the Wraith had split off to and signaled for her to follow him closely.

She followed him and kept her eyes and ears open for any unwanted surprises. She assumed that he was trying to take them back to the Stargate. But as they kept moving forward, it felt as if they were moving deeper into the unknown forest.

"John," she whispered, "do you know where we are going?"

He stopped walking and gave her a hesitant look. "Not anymore," he said with a winced.

Elizabeth sighed. "Well, I hope everyone else is all right."

"Me too," John agreed and clicked on his radio again. Once again only static responded. "I wish I knew what is causing the disturbance in the radio signals."

"Could it possibility be Wraith related?" she asked, uncertain.

"I hope not." The thought of the Wraith figuring out to how to jam their radio signals was not something John wanted to add to his list of worries.

"Is it possible that we walked into some sort of EM field?" Elizabeth suggested.

"It's possible, but only McKay would be able to figure that out for sure."

Elizabeth furrowed her eyebrows as she listened to the static on her radio. "The radios were working _before_ we got this far into the forest; maybe if we keep walking, we might get out of range of whatever it is that is disrupting the signal."

"The question is which direction will take us out of range and which will bring us closer to the source?" Elizabeth's responded to him with silence. "All right," he said looking at the trees around him. "Let's go with door number two." He pointed to his right and started in that direction.

Every five minutes or so, he would check his radio, but still he received only static.

"How far _did_ we run?" he asked annoyed as he clicked on his radio again. Still nothing. "Maybe we should have taken door number one or three or… four instead." He muttered to himself and glanced back at Elizabeth before continuing to trudge forward.

"John?"

John turned to see Elizabeth staring at something he initially thought was a tree, but upon closer observation, he noticed it was a tall grey column covered with vines and foliage.

"What's this? A road sign?"

Elizabeth shook her head. "I don't think so." She started to pull at one of vines to reveal Ancient writings written on the column.

"Does it tell us which way the Stargate is?" he asked glancing at the writings.

"No." She leaned in closer to read the symbols. "It says something about death and burials grounds."

"Just when I thought our day couldn't get any creepier." John made a face. "Are you telling me that we wandered into a cemetery?"

"I'm not sure if this is a cemetery, but it's a possibility. According to this column, it says _'For those who seek alleviation from painful memories of a loved one, the cure lies to the North.'_"

"What does that mean?"

"I don't know," she shrugged.

"Let's go north and find out," he said and they started to walk north of the column.

As they walked further north, Elizabeth observed the surrounding forestry, and noticed that the number of trees in the area was thinning. They finally emerged from the forest to an open clearing to find a wall covered with plants occupying the center of the field.

The wall was tall and a melancholic grey. The vines and plants that adorned the wall only added to its neglected state.

"Okay, first a lonely column; now a lonely wall. What's next?"

Feeling slightly braver, Elizabeth walked passed John, approached the wall, and found that they were at the corner of a building.

"I don't think this is a lonely wall, John," she said looking back at him. "It's a lonely building. Did the people here tell you about this place?"

"No, they believed these woods were haunted. Some of them said they spotted some glowing lady wandering here," he shrugged.

"Ghosts?"

"You know, after encountering the Wraith, having a run in with a ghost almost seems preferable."

"Well, we are in a cemetery," Elizabeth said and started to walk along the side of the wall. They walked about another twenty feet before they came to another corner.

"So what do you think this is? A mausoleum?" John asked as he followed Elizabeth.

"Possibly." Elizabeth turned at the corner of the building and continued walking along the building. "Look, there is a doorway." She pointed to a spot along the wall they were following.

"Doorway?" he eyed Elizabeth skeptically. "I just see a lot of leaves and vines."

"It's there. Come here," she insisted as she started pulling at the undergrowth revealing an opening.

"Okay, so we found the doorway into an ancient tomb," he said shining his flashlight into the dark entrance. "Don't you think we should come back another time?" he said, anxious to return to the Stargate to find out the status of his men.

"Maybe whatever is inside might be disrupting the radio signals," she suggested.

"Maybe, but—" Before John could even finish his sentence. Elizabeth had already climbed over the brush and into the building.

The interior of the building smelled old and dank. From the light outside, Elizabeth could see that the room had a triangular floor plan. In the center of the room, was a dim glowing orb on a black marble pedestal. When John walked in after her, the orb seemed to glow brighter.

"Mood lighting in a cemetery?" he asked.

"This thing is obviously emitting some sort of energy," she said looking closely at the pedestal.

"Be careful, Elizabeth."

"Could you please shine some light here?" she asked, motioning him to point his gun's flashlight at a spot. "This definitely isn't some fancy lighting."

"The column outside said something about alleviating painful memories. Does it explain it here?"

"_The pains of memories lie within yourself and in your hands_," she translated. "Not really. I think I'm more confused now than before."

"What is it with the Ancient and riddles?"

"_Placing one's hands on the Lethe will extricate all memory of a loved one that pains you._"

"What is this? Therapy for bad breakups? Like that movie… something Sunshine."

"_Eternal Sunshine for the Spotless Mind_," Elizabeth supplied.

"Yeah, that."

"No," she continued reading. "I think it's more along the lines of easing the pain from a loved ones death."

"By 'extricating' the memory of them from your brain? That sounds a bit extreme."

"It's the Ancients, they always went for extreme," she shrugged.

John lightly tapped the top of the glowing orb with the nose of his P-90. "Do you think there is a way of turning this off? The eerie glow is creeping me out."

"_When you return to the world of living, all memories of the loved one will vanish_," she continued translating. "I don't know. I don't suppose there is an 'off' switch somewhere."

Elizabeth looked on the other side of the pedestal. "On this side, it says something about turning the orb until the light goes out." John looked at her as she returned his look arching her eyebrows. "Shall we try it?"

"Couldn't hurt to try, right?" he said.

Elizabeth replaced her gun into her holster, placed both of her hands on each side of the glowing sphere, and tried to turn it, but it wouldn't budge. "Could you give me a hand?"

John let go of his gun and placed his hands around the orb. The orb glowed brighter as John placed his hands on it, but it slowly dimmed and finally went dark as he easily turned it slightly.

"Did it work?"

"We'll find out," John said and clicked on his radio. "Major Lorne, this is Sheppard. What is your status?"

"Colonel? Good to hear you're still with us." Lorne's voice came through the radio.

"Yeah, well didn't want you to have all the fun."

"We've seemed to have gotten rid of most of the Wraith," Lorne reported. "Teyla and Ronon are at the village assessing the damages. The Stargate is secured at the moment, and…" he hesitated, "we don't know where Doctor Weir is, sir."

"Doctor Weir is with me," John said. He could have sworn he heard Lorne sigh a breath of relief when he said that. "I believe we are a couple klicks west of the Stargate. We found a cemetery that had some power source that was disrupting our radio signals. The source as been disabled—" John stopped talking abruptly when he saw a couple of Wraith lurking outside of the building.

"Colonel?" Major Lorne's voice crackled through the radio.

"I need some back up," he said lowering his voice. "We are surrounded by about three Wraith. There might be more lurking about the premises."

"Understood, sir. Lorne out."

John signaled for Elizabeth to stand behind him and handed her his sidearm. "Let's hope these guys have bad eyes and don't see the doorway," John said aiming his gun at the door, waiting. Just then, a Wraith appeared at the doorway blocking the only light in the room. "So much for bad eyes," he muttered and started to fire.

After shooting the Wraith at the door, John turned to Elizabeth. "Stay here. I'm going to look for the other two."

She urgently grabbed him by the arm. "John, you don't know that there are only three Wraith out there, there may be more lurking about. You said so yourself."

"I can't wait anymore. I am running out of bullets."

"Then take this back," she pushed the gun he gave her back to him. "I still have mine.

He shook his head. "You are running low on ammo too. Keep it." He pushed the gun in her hands back towards her. "I can take care of myself," he winked and rushed out the door before Elizabeth could convince him otherwise.

As soon as John stepped out of the doorway to shoot at another enemy, Elizabeth noticed that the orb was starting to glow again. Before she had time to comprehend what the orb was doing, another Wraith appeared at the door. She quickly fired her gun at the Wraith. After getting a few shots at it, the Wraith knocked the gun out of her hand, grabbed her by the shoulder and flung her against a wall..

Elizabeth heard something crack and her left arm immediately felt numb as she fell to the ground. Her right hand tried to grab for the extra gun in her holster. She pulled the gun out and pointed it at the Wraith, but her attention turned to the glowing orb in the center of the room. This time the glow did not return to its previous dim amber light. Instead, it continued to brighten until the light became so intense that it was blinding. Elizabeth shielded her eyes from the intense light, and she suddenly felt a pulse vibrate the area.

From the corner of John's eyes, he saw light coming from the doorway he just exited.

"Elizabeth!" he yelled as he started running back towards the building, ignoring the Wraith he was in the middle of killing.

The last thing he remembered was the blinding light and a sudden pulse that knocked him backwards... then blackness.


	2. Chapter 2

**_A/N:_** _A quick thanks to all the reviews. I don't really have anything else to say, but yay! update! Hopefully I'll get Chapter 3 up shortly. Thanks again! _

**Chapter 2**

The familiar noise of beeping machines filled John's head as he opened his eyes a slit and saw Doctor Carson Beckett standing at the foot of his bed glancing over a chart. John languidly turned his head to one side and found the bed next to him was empty. He looked to the other side and found that bed empty as well.

"Colonel, it's good to see you conscious again," the Scottish man said with a smile.

"Where's Elizabeth?" John asked groggily.

"Who?"

"Doctor Weir."

"I'm sorry, who?"

"Doctor Elizabeth Weir," he repeated enunciating each word. "You know, curly brown hair, green eyes, leader of the Atlantis expedition, _our_ boss."

"You must've hit your head harder than I thought," Carson frowned.

"What are you talking about?" John copied Carson's frown. Then he smiled and let out a nervous chuckle. "I get it. This is a joke. You guys almost got me there." He shook his finger at Carson. "Rodney!" John yelled.

"Colonel, please, I suggest you try not to strain yourself."

"Come on, Carson, I'm fine," he insisted. "Joke is up. Where's Rodney?"

"Rodney isn't here. He's in his lab. Now I suggest you get some more rest," Carson said calmly.

"Carson, I'm fine. Just release me now," he said and attempted to sit up on the infirmary bed.

"I don't think so, Colonel." Carson gently pushed him on the shoulder to lie back down. "A minute ago, you were babbling about a Doctor Weir. I don't think you are quite yourself yet. Also I promised Colonel Caldwell I wouldn't release you until he ordered me to."

"Caldwell? When did you start taking orders from Caldwell?"

"What do you mean, Colonel? Colonel Caldwell has been leading the Atlantis expedition team since the beginning," Carson said and furrowed his eyebrows, "or have you forgotten?"

"No, Elizabeth has been leading the Atlantis expedition from the beginning. Caldwell is in charge of the _Daedalus_. I don't doubt that he would have loved to have Elizabeth's job, but—"

"Who's Elizabeth?" Rodney suddenly appeared standing next to Carson and munching on a Power bar. "I see that Sleeping Beauty is awake."

"Okay guys, the joke was funny the first five seconds, but now this is just _not_ cool," John said resentfully.

"What are you talking about, Sheppard?"

"All this pretending that you guys don't know who Elizabeth is," John replied crossing his arms over his chest.

"Elizabeth?" Rodney looked at John. "Elizabeth what?"

"Elizabeth Weir. Doctor Elizabeth Weir," John repeated.

"Is she an ex-girlfriend? Because you know, sometimes trauma to the head can cause one to remember some random things in the past. Once I—"

"No," John said irritated. "She's _not_ an ex-girlfriend. She is Doctor Elizabeth Weir, a well-known diplomat from Earth, leader of this expedition team, and _your_ boss!" By now he was thoroughly frustrated. "Is this payback for when I called you crazy when Cadman was in your head?"

Rodney gave John a blank look and looked at Carson. "What's up with him?"

"I think we should let the Colonel rest," Carson began.

"Look, there is _nothing_ wrong with me," John insisted. "Something is wrong with you guys for still keeping up with this sick joke. What are you doing?" John glared at Carson as he saw him inject a sedative into a tube.

"I'm sorry, Colonel," Carson apologized. "You're probably just stressed out. You _need_ more rest."

"No, what I need is for you guys to stop screwing with me," John muttered, feeling the effects of sedative spread into his blood stream. He tried to fight the medication, but eyes quickly became heavy and closed.

* * *

"What's wrong with him, Doctor?" Colonel Steven Caldwell asked, leaning back in his chair. He glanced out his office window that overlooked the gateroom before returning his attention to Carson.

"There is nothing physically wrong with him, sir. It's just that he keeps talking about this woman, Elizabeth Weir," Carson said, his face marked with concern.

"What do you mean by 'talking about'?" Caldwell asked.

"He keeps asking us where she is, and he thinks that we're playing a sick joke on him by pretending that she doesn't exist," he explained.

"Who is this Elizabeth Weir supposed to be?"

"According to Colonel Sheppard, she is the civilian leader of this Atlantis expedition."

"Humph." Caldwell knew that John didn't like him much for various reasons, and if it were not for the gifts of his Ancient gene, Caldwell would rather have John back on Earth, and as far away from him as possible.

"Are you saying that he's gone crazy?"

"He doesn't sound crazy. It's the fact that he is convinced that this woman is real that is disturbing."

Caldwell let out a sigh. "Doctor, I want to see this for myself."

"Suit yourself, Colonel," Carson shrugged. "The sedative that I gave him should be wearing off by now. Hopefully, the couple hours of rest helped clear his mind."

* * *

Teyla stood next to Ronon as they watched John sit up on his bed in the infirmary.

"Colonel, it's not that we do not believe you, but we truly do not know this Doctor Weir that you speak of," Teyla assured John.

Ronon only crossed his arms and shrugged in agreement.

"And I do not believe Doctor McKay would be so cruel as to play a joke such as this. Especially after you have been injured," she added.

John furrowed his eyebrows. Teyla did have a point. Rodney could be a complete pain, but he usually wouldn't kick a man when he's down... too much. Still, this whole situation was not making any sense.

He couldn't have dreamt up Elizabeth for the past year. He was positive she was real. He remembered talking to her, touching her, smiling and laughing with her, arguing with her, watching her... All of these things could not only have been a very real, very vivid dream. Could they?

John sat up in his bed when he saw Caldwell enter the infirmary followed by Carson.

"Colonel," Caldwell greeted John with a nod.

"Colonel," John replied.

"I'm glad to see you are _looking_ well," Caldwell said stopping on the other side of the bed.

"I'm sure Doctor Beckett already told you of my affliction," John said bitterly and looked away.

"Yes, he has," Caldwell said scrutinizing John. "You say that this Doctor Weir was a well-known diplomat on earth, and also the civilian leader of this expedition team?"

"Yes," John said, not making eye contact with anyone. This conversation with Colonel Caldwell was another dead end. Elizabeth, apparently, did not exist here, and he could not understand why.

"Colonel, what exactly happened at M5G-382?" Caldwell asked.

"We were on our way to the village at M5G-382 for a meeting with their leader," he began to explain.

"Who do you mean by 'we'?" Caldwell interrupted.

"We, as in Major Lorne, his team, my team, and Doctor Weir. May I continue, sir?"

"Please."

"We were on our way to the village when a bunch of Wraith came out of nowhere and ambushed us. I told Elizabeth to run into the forest for protection, and I followed her. After killing several Wraith that followed our trail, we found that there was something disrupting our radio signals. While searching for the source of the disruption, we stumbled upon a cemetery. We found a device that was emitting some sort of energy and disrupting the radio signals. It was some weird glowing crystal ball or something." He held his hands out in a gesture to show the approximate size of the orb. "Anyways, I disabled it. Next thing I knew there were more Wraith outside. I left Elizabeth _in_ the building to engage the Wraith as we waited for Major Lorne to bring us back up. The last thing I remember was a very bright light and something knocking me over."

John observed the expression on each person standing around his bed.

Caldwell crossed his arms over his chest. "Your story pretty much correlates with everyone else."

"Except for the part about Elizabeth," John said with restrained frustration.

"Yes," Caldwell sighed. "Major Lorne says that he found you unconscious near some old ruins, but he didn't find anyone near the building other than a dead Wraith outside and another one inside."

"There was another Wraith inside?" John tried to remember if he heard any gunshots after he exited the building, but nothing came to mind. If the Wraith was dead, he assumed that Elizabeth must have killed it. He knew she was capable of it, when she was put in the position, but that did not explain what happened to her. "Then we have to go back and find out what that glowing ball does."

"Colonel, we've already been through the area and gathered all the data that we could from the ruins," Caldwell said. "And we've come up with nothing, other than more cryptic riddles. And our mission here is not to solve Ancient puzzles."

"I'm sure that thing is the reason that everyone has lost their memories about Elizabeth," John said; ready to get out of bed.

Caldwell held out a hand to stop John. "Colonel, as of this moment, I am relieving you of active duty. I suggest you go see Doctor Heightmeyer and take a couple days off to rest."

"Sir, I don't—" John stopped abruptly when he saw the stern look on Caldwell's face.

"That is an order, Colonel."

"Yes, sir," John sighed in defeat.

* * *

Doctor Kate Heightmeyer sat patiently as she watched the tousled haired Colonel slouching in the chair across from her. Most of her patients in Atlantis were always hesitant when they came to speak to her, especially when they were accused of being crazy or delusional.

"Look, Doctor," John began, leaning forward and propping his elbows on his lap. "I know you are good at what you do, and we both know that I don't want to be here. So how do you know that I won't just tell you what you want to hear just so you'd sign me off as sane?"

Kate smiled. "First of, Colonel, no one is labeling you as insane," she said in her soft voice.

"You're not the one on the receiving end of the weird looks lately," John muttered and slumped back into the chair.

"I'm here to help understand why this memory of Elizabeth is so strong for you," she assured him. "So tell me about Elizabeth. What does she look like? Who is she? How did you meet her? What did she do? Anything you can think of."

John licked his lips and crossed his arms over his chest. "What's the point? Like everyone else, you're not going to believe me."

"Humor me, please." She gestured for him to continue.

"The first time I met Elizabeth was when I flew General O'Neill down to Antarctica. She's a slender beautiful woman, with curly brown hair, green eyes, well-read, great speaker and leader, strong, very understanding, very amiable, and a good friend. As for who she is and what she does, she is a world-renowned diplomat on Earth, which is why the United States President handpicked her to be the leader of this expedition team. Also because she is the leader of this expedition team, _everyone_, including you, knows her."

Kate knitted her eyebrows together as she thought of another question. "If she is such a public figure, why is it that no one can remember who she is?"

"I don't know," John said exasperated. "It's like everyone's memory of her has been wiped out, like she never existed."

"Was there some sort of relationship between you and Elizabeth?" she asked cautiously.

"Yes, she's my boss and my friend."

"Apparently, from your account, she is everyone's boss and friend here in Atlantis."

"Yes," he said warily.

"Could it be possible that you have stronger feelings for her than others here?"

"What do you mean?" John said defensively.

"What I mean is that, could it be possible that because you have stronger feelings for her that these memories that you've retained of her are stronger than everyone else?" she asked rewording her question.

"The thing is no one has _any_ recollection of her. She doesn't exist!"

Kate observed John's reaction to her questions. He was clearly agitated by the lack of explanations for the situation. She sensed that there must have been something between John and this woman for him to be so troubled.

"Would you die for her?" she suddenly asked.

"Of course, I would," he said without a second thought. "As I would for anyone else on this team," he added. "It's my job."

"Yes," Kate agreed. "You have proved yourself many times, Colonel, and I'm very grateful for that. I wouldn't be alive today if it weren't for your bravery."

"You're welcome, but I have a feeling my past bravery isn't going to get me out of this."

She shook her head. "You can imagine how it this looks to us."

"I try not to," he sighed. "It just makes me feel worse."

Kate sighed at her helplessness. "I know you are probably sick of hearing this, but maybe some rest will do you good."

"Personally, I feel that finding out what happened to Elizabeth would do me much better. Thanks for the advice, doc," John said and left psychologist's office.

* * *

The sound of the rushing waves and the twinkling stars seemed like the only normal occurrence to John as he stood on the balcony outside of the control room.

After his meeting with Doctor Heightmeyer, he spent most of the day trying to find evidence that Elizabeth was, in fact, in Atlantis and only missing. But his search turned up fruitless. There was no trace of Elizabeth anywhere. He read all the past mission reports, and found nothing that mentioned Elizabeth. Even in his own mission reports, he couldn't find any mention of Elizabeth. It was as if he was reading a mission report written by himself, but at the same time not himself. They didn't look like they were tampered with or edited. They just looked... different.

When he stopped by Elizabeth's office out of habit, the Athonsian jar he gave her for her birthday was gone. He even stopped by her room to find that her room was Caldwell's room. It was as if the missing puzzle piece that was Elizabeth was neatly replaced by another piece, but that piece didn't fit quite right to him.

Other than having Caldwell in charge and everything leaning towards a military point of view, everything else seemed pretty much the same.

He leaned on one of the beams on the balcony and remembered the time when she leaned on the exact same spot on her first birthday in Atlantis before he gave her a birthday gift. He remembered the first time they came out to this balcony and had their first dispute on whether he should go on a half-assed rescue mission. He thought about the many times that they usually ended up standing out here together to converse about things that were bothering them or just to get a breath of fresh air.

Sometimes when Elizabeth was out on the balcony alone contemplating, he would stand by the door and watch her and wonder what went through her mind. Leading a group of people to another galaxy in search of knowledge and technology wasn't an easy task. It also didn't help that she was forced to face evil life sucking aliens and the powers that be back on Earth. But John knew that she was a strong woman. Her strength had won his respect and admiration and possibly even more.

John turned his head when he heard the door to the balcony slide open, half-hoping that Elizabeth would come through. Instead, his Athosian teammate entered.

"Hello, Teyla," he said and returned his gaze out into the night horizon.

"Colonel Sheppard, it is quite late. Did Doctor Beckett not say that you must rest?" Teyla asked.

"I'm too restless for sleep. I just feel like I need to do something to keep my mind off things."

"Would you like to spar with me? That would keep your mind off things," she offered.

He looked at the petite Athosian woman. "No, thank you, Teyla. I'm restless, but I don't think getting my ass kicked is what I had in mind."

Teyla smiled and place her hands on the railings of the balcony and looked at John, "May I ask what you are reflecting about, Colonel?"

John glanced at Teyla. He wasn't sure how she would react if he started talking about Elizabeth. At least she wouldn't mock him about it like a certain astrophysicist.

"I was thinking about how Elizabeth would come out here to think when something was bothering her, and the times I'd come out here to talk to her."

"I see," Teyla said with some disappointment. "What did you talk about?"

"We'd talk about work and stuff and Earth. You know, stuff like that. She was always a good listener." He smiled to himself as he remembered the way she smiled at his corny jokes.

"I am here to listen if you wish to talk, Colonel."

"Thanks," he said. "It just bothers me that I can't find any trace of her. Nothing. I've looked at everything, and I can't find any physical evidence of her ever being here or _anywhere_."

"Is it possible that Doctor Weir does not indeed exist?" she asked very cautiously.

John glared at Teyla. "No, Elizabeth _exists_. I refuse to believe that the last two years of my life have all been a dream."

"Your presence here in the Pegasus Galaxy is enough proof that your life was not a dream," she assured him. "It is only the presence of this Doctor Weir in these situations you describe that seem... out of place."

"Are you suggesting that I might have dreamed up Elizabeth and gone Schizoid too?" he snapped.

Teyla looked at him in confusion.

"I'm sorry, Teyla. I didn't mean to put this out on you, but it's just so frustrating. Everything here is wrong. _This_ is the bad dream." He held his arms open gesturing to everything around him. "_Not_ my memories of Elizabeth," he said confidently.

"There must be a reason why you remember Doctor Weir so vividly, while the rest of us cannot recall her at all. Did you have strong feelings for this Doctor Weir?" she asked.

He wrapped his arms around himself. "Heightmeyer asked me the exact same question."

"What was your answer?"

"I never really answered the question," he admitted.

"Will you answer it now?"

"She is a friend and I would do _anything_ to bring her back," he simply said and walked back into the control room, leaving behind a perplexed Teyla.  
As he walked down the stairs in the control room, his eyes glanced up to the transparent windows of Elizabeth's office. Only now it was not Elizabeth's office, it was Caldwell's office. All the trinkets and pottery that Elizabeth displayed in her office where gone. It was like he woke up in an alternate reality where Elizabeth didn't exist.

That's it! He remembered reading past SG-1 mission reports, and they mentioned going into an alternate reality several times. It was possible that the object he and Elizabeth found in the cemetery was a gateway to another reality, and they were separated.

John quickly changed direction and headed towards Rodney's room.

* * *

"Rodney!" John called out as he repeatedly knocked loudly on Rodney's door.

John knew that Rodney was asleep, but this could not wait until morning. If he was right and he was in an alternate reality, he needed to find Elizabeth since she could be lost somewhere, or worse, hurt and needed his help.

Rodney's eyes were still shut when the door to his room slid open.

"Colonel, do you know what time it is?" Rodney said with irritation as he yawned and blinked his eyes open a couple times.

"Is it possible that I'm in an alternate reality?" John asked.

"What!"

"Alternate realities, those exist right?"

"Yes, SG-1 had encountered several alternate realities through a quantum mirror they found on P3X-233." Rodney made a face as he tried to remember the planet address.

"Is it _possible_ that I'm in some alternate reality where Elizabeth doesn't exist?"

"I knew it!" Rodney threw his hands in the air. "I _knew_ you were going to cause me to lose sleep over your fantasy woman."

"She's _not_ a fantasy!"

"Yes, she's not a fantasy, and I'm not listening to this anymore." Rodney turned; ready to head back to his bed.

"Rodney, please," John pleaded. "Is it _possible_?"

Rodney rubbed his forehead. "I know better than to not rule anything out since our arrival here. So yes, it's _possible_. Can I go back to sleep now?'

"Is it possible that the glowy ball in the cemetery ruins is the device that caused this?"

"No," Rodney shook his head. "I don't think so. From what we've translated so far, that thing has nothing do with traveling to parallel universes, but there are lots of stuff about memories."

"Memories?"

"Yeah, something about getting over grief and leaving behind painful memories."

"Don't you see it!" John exclaimed. "I think when I touched that thing it did something and fuzzed with everyone's memory of Elizabeth."

Rodney let out an exhausted sigh. "Can't we talk about this tomorrow? Like during a decent hour when vampires aren't on the prowl?"

"No," John said sternly. "If that object did something, I need to find Elizabeth. She might be stuck somewhere and needs my help."

"Or she could be fine somewhere and sleeping soundly," Rodney insisted.

"I highly doubt that," John said, unconvinced.

Rodney only sighed and glared at John, "So much for a good night's sleep."


	3. Chapter 3

**_A/N:_ **_Just want to thank everyone for the nice reviews! I tried to update this earlier, but work got in the way. (sigh) And the next update will definitely be a while, because I will be away from my computer... I know! The horror! Hopefully as soon as I get back I'll get the next chapter up shortly and not keep you guys hanging too long. Also I wanted to thank my beta SallyLizzie! _

**Chapter 3**

A chill went through Elizabeth's body when her eyes opened to pitch-blackness. She found herself lying on the cold surface of a hard floor. As she moved every muscle in her body ached. Her right hand still tightly gripped the gun that John gave her. She tried to move her left arm, but yelped as a piercing pain shot through her arm.

She kept her left arm still and tried to push herself up into a sitting position. "John?" she called out, wincing as she stiffly sat up. "John?" she repeated a bit louder. Silence. "John?" she tried again, her voice started to waver. "John?" This time his name came out in whisper as her eyes frantically searched the darkness.

She finally released her grip on the gun and brought her hand up several inches from her face. She widened her eyes to try and see, but to her horror, she couldn't. Either the brilliant light from the orb had blinded her, or she was somewhere very, very, _very_ dark. Elizabeth dearly hoped that it was the latter.

Her fingers fumbled over her vest pockets hoping to find a flashlight, but she found none. She then blindly stretched her hand out in front of her to feel her surroundings. She touched a rough surface, which she assumed was a wall and leaned back against it.

Using her good hand, she lightly touched the top of her left arm. Under her jacket, she could feel her upper arm was swollen. She wished she could see how badly her arm was injured, but instead, she used the wall she leaned on as support and pulled herself up to a standing position. She grazed her hand along the wall as she moved forward in the darkness. Timidly, she walked along the wall wondering if she was alone in this dark forsaken place, or if John was also here but unconscious.

"John?" she called again. This time her voice echoed down a long corridor. If only she could see where she was, she wouldn't have felt as vulnerable, but the pitch blackness was suffocating her. She desperately needed to find a way out and some sort of lights. Then she remembered the temporary glow sticks in her vest. She felt around her vest pockets again and found the smooth glow stick. With a quick snap of the stick, it emitted an eerie yellow glow.

Elizabeth let out a breath of relief. At least the faint light confirmed she wasn't blind. But the things the light revealed unsettled her even more. She was in a room that appeared to be the same triangular room she and John found, but there was no doorway, only a single archway that led into more darkness. Ancient words were engraved along the top of the stone archway. A shiver went through Elizabeth as she translated the words, _The Realm of the Forgotten._

"John?" she tried again. "Is anyone here?" She shined the light around the room and found nothing other than a pedestal with an unlit orb in the center of the room, like the one she and John had found. She searched the pedestal for any inscriptions to tell her where she was, but the surface of the marble pedestal was smooth and flawless and unlike the other pedestal, there were no inscriptions.

Her gaze returned to the morbid Ancient words above the arch that led to obscurity. She took in a deep breath to calm herself. She looked at the stick of light in her hands. She couldn't remember how long her source of light would last, but she knew it was limited. If she wanted to get out of here, she would have to work fast, or she would be back wandering in the darkness.

Before she ventured into the archway, she replaced her gun into its holster. Though she was handicapped, she felt more comfortable having her gun within reach. Holding the glow stick out, she walked through the arch.

It was not long until she saw several large slots along the sides of the corridor. Hesitantly, Elizabeth walked closer to one side to see if the slots were windows. Shining her light through the first slot, she let out a startled scream as hollow sockets of a human skull glared back at her.

The unexpected sight shocked Elizabeth, and she unwittingly backed into the wall on the other side. As her back hit the wall, the sudden jostling caused pain to shoot through her left arm again. She winced and noticed that she leaned against a slot similar to the one on she just stepped away from. She forced herself to shine her light into the slot. As expected, there was a skeleton in that slot as well. Instantaneously, she pushed herself off that wall and stood in the center of the corridor trembling.

With her hand still shaking, she mustered up the courage to hold out her light towards the slot again. She then realized that these well-preserved skeletons were laid here a very long time ago. This place was a catacomb. She was alone in an ancient catacomb.

Finally realizing where she was, she started to walk faster down along the corridor hoping that she would find a way out at the end. She wasn't sure how far she ran, but tears of frustration seeped from her eyes when she reached a dead end.

There was no way out.

"No!" Elizabeth said aloud to herself blinking back her tears. "There has to be a way out of here. If there is a way in, there _has_ to be a way out," she assured herself.

She looked back towards the dark corridor she just came from and started to walk back. This time she carefully looked for any possible hint of how she could escape this abyss of darkness. By the time she reached the triangular room, her despair and tears of distress had returned.

Elizabeth stood looking at the dark orb in the center of the room and wiped the tears from her face. She was sure this had something to do with her being here, since the last thing she remembered was the bright light from its twin. But why would it bring her here and where was John?

She tried with difficulty to turn the orb with her good arm, like John had, but like before, it would not glow or budge. She figured that John's Ancient gene may be factor in this. However, this revelation did not explain why she was brought here.

During this time, Elizabeth had pushed the pain of her broken arm aside as she focused on searching for an exit. But now that escape seemed hopeless, her arm seemed to hurt even more.

She looked at the glow stick in her hand. It had given her several hours of light and would probably give her several more, but eventually it would fade. It was already dimmer than when she first cracked it open.

Cradling her injured arm, Elizabeth decided to use the remaining light to look at her injury. She walked to the corner of the room, furthest from the archway, sat down, dropped the glow stick on the ground, and began the arduous process of taking off her vest.

She tried to keep her injured arm a small distance from her body as she unzipped her vest and slipped one arm out of the sleeve. Keeping one shoulder raised to prevent the vest from slipping onto her injured arm, she carefully pulled her injured arm through.

She sighed. That was not as painful as she expected, but now she had to remove her jacket. She was glad that she wore a short-sleeved shirt underneath and wouldn't have to deal with the pain of rolling her sleeve up.

As she cautiously slipped her jacket off her injured arm, she could tell from the dim light that it was swollen and bruised badly. She winced as her fingers lightly touched the bruised skin. She was relieved to see that it wasn't an open fracture and that her arm did not look bent out of shape, but it still hurt immensely.

She shivered from the cold emptiness of the tomb and thought it better to put her jacket back on for warmth. Not wanting to agitate her broken arm, she decided to slip one sleeve of her jacket on and draped the other side around her shoulder.

She leaned her head back against the wall and looked at the dark corridor beyond the pedestal. She constantly repeated to herself that she needed to be strong, but the pain and frustration was overwhelming, and tears were starting to form around her eyes again.

She felt a tear fall from her eyes as she watched the glow stick become dimmer and dimmer. In time, she would be plunged into the lonely darkness indefinitely again.

* * *

John poured over images and translations that were gathered from the cemetery on M5G-382. He stared at images of the orb and pedestal, but all he could think of was Elizabeth stooped next to the pedestal translating the Ancient writings to him.

_The pain of memories lies within yourself and in your hands._

Her voice was so clear in his head. There was no way that he dreamed Elizabeth up. He remembered her long slender finger brushing away the dust on the pedestal as she continued translating.

_Placing one's hands on the 'Lethe' will extricate all memory of a loved one that pains you._

If this thing was to help one forget painful memories, in his case, it was only helping developing new painful ones since his sanity was now in question, and the disappearance of Elizabeth had left an unexplained emptiness in him.

A soft snore emanated next to him, where Rodney had fallen asleep on the table. So much for having Rodney help in translating, John thought to himself. Over the years, John's Ancient had gotten better. He figured out how to read the consoles on the puddlejumper and other equipments that he used often. But Elizabeth was still the linguist of the group. John sighed. Elizabeth was not here, and he was on his own in this search.

John clicked several keys on the laptop. The image onscreen magnified to twice its original size. He spent a moment trying to decipher what the Ancient character was, but his eyes were starting to hurt, and all the enhanced photographic images on screen were starting to blend together. He blinked his eyes several more times, but blinking only seemed to make his sight blurrier. He knew it would be better if he got some rest, but his gut told him there wasn't time for rest. Elizabeth needed him. Wherever she was…

Finally, John gave up trying to decipher the one symbol, and nudged Rodney to wake up.

"Ow, my neck!" Rodney grimaced as he groggily raised his head up.

"What's this word?" John asked pointing to a letter on the screen.

Rodney raised his head a bit higher to look at the screen. "Beloved." He winced when he turned his head too far and dropped his head back down onto his arms. "Much better," he sighed and went back to sleep.

"Beloved," John whispered to himself over and over again as he clicked on the keyboard again and the image returned to its original size.

_The beloved will fade to darkness along with their memories without a trace._

"Figured that much," he muttered. "Now where did they fade to?"

_Into the abyss of darkness, they will lie in man's fatal slumber in the Forgotten Realm watched over by the creator of Lethe._

"Okay…where is this 'Forgotten Realm'?" he asked himself.

He moved on to read some partial translations of writings found on the walls of the orb room.

The translations spoke of a man who once loved someone dearly and when she died, he had lost all will to live, for every moment without her tore at his heart. For many weeks he sat alone wishing he could die or forget the pain of his loss, but his love for her was too great and eventually his health began failing.

One day a foreign explorer arrived through the Stargate and she met this man who suffered the agony of lost love. His story of love moved her and she asked what was it that would make him happy again, short of bringing the dead back to life. The man responded. He wished to forget all traces of his beloved. That would make him happy again. She asked why would he chose to forget one he loved so much, pain and sadness was all part of life. He said that life without his love was not life. The foreigner was so moved by the anguish and sadness in his eyes, she agreed to help him forget his beloved.

With the knowledge she had gained from her people, she made Lethe. When the man touched Lethe, he was released from the memory of his beloved and he was healed of a broken heart but…

The translation ended abruptly. John tried to find if there was more to the translation, but he didn't see anything else. He tried to find the image of where this text was from so maybe he could translate it himself, but instead he found the image of the column he and Elizabeth came across before they found the building.

_For those who seek alleviation from painful memories of a loved one, the cure lies to the North._

Every image from the ruins conjured up the last moments he spent with Elizabeth at M5G-382. As his tired eyes continued scanning the inscriptions in the picture, he found that someone else had translated some of the text, and that it confirmed Elizabeth's first assumption that they had stepped into a cemetery.

He remembered how they followed the instructions on the column that led them to the building. He didn't remember seeing any type of cemetery, and the room they entered was definitely too small to be a mausoleum. It was more like a memorial… Funny, how everything just came back to memories.

John started to search through the other data gathered to see if anything else was uncovered in the surrounding areas. Maybe the burial grounds were beyond the triangular building they found. Maybe there was a cave into a forgotten catacomb. Maybe there were more random columns sticking out of the ground with more vague instructions.

He mindlessly clicked on the keyboard looking through image after image of the desolate ruins until he happened upon the image of a column very similar to the one he and Elizabeth found. He started to search the database for any aerial shots taken of the ruins.

"Bingo."

He enlarged the image. From the aerial view of the ruins, he could easily spot the triangular building and the column Elizabeth found, which looked to be half a klick from the building. The second column was paralleled to the first column, but on the opposite side of the building and perpendicular to its entrance.

He clicked on the previous image of the second column, one he had studied earlier, and noticed there was something different about the ground surrounding the column. But the pictures taken were focused on the column and not focused on the ground it stood on. The only way for him to have a better look at the area was to go back there.

John sighed wearily; there was no way Caldwell was going let him go off-world, let alone go back to M5G-382. He tiredly rubbed has hand over his eyes and face. He could feel the rough stubble that was starting to grow, but grooming himself was the last thing on his mind. He needed to find Elizabeth. He had a sick feeling that she was in danger and needed him.

Listening to his gut feeling, he knew he needed to decipher as much as he could from this data, and do whatever it took to get back to the planet and find her.


	4. Chapter 4

_**A/N: **I sound like a broken record, but I can't thank guys enough for all the reviews. So thank you all again. I'm finally back from a long needed vacation and relatively caught up with everything… Okay, not really, but I did manage to get this chapter done. _

_Again thanks to my beta SallyLizzie for proofreading my incoherent writings. _

**Chapter 4**

_"Elizabeth!"_

Her eyes snapped open and she awoke with a start. The blackness of the room and the throbbing pain in her arm reminded her of her dilemma, and her tears returned.

As she wiped her despairing tears from her cheeks, she tried to comfort herself by telling herself that everything would be all right in the end. It always had. From the moment they stepped through the Stargate into the Pegasus Galaxy, they had encountered problem after problem. After each situation, they always managed to come out alive. This was just another one of those obstacles where everything seemed dire and hopeless. She would survive this, just as John survived nearly dying countless of times.

She let out a weak chuckle as she thought about how after this ordeal, John and his team would surely get into trouble, causing her to worry incessantly again. However, presently, she was the one missing, and she was alone, cold, hungry, and afraid.

She did not know how long she had been trapped in this tomb. It could have only been hours or days, but in the dark, it felt like an eternity. She buried her head in her hand and the only sound she could hear was the quiet ticking of her watch in the silence.

The ticking watch both comforted and troubled her. It comforted her, for the ticking reminded her that she was still alive since time is a part of life and mortality. On the other hand, since time symbolized life and its mortality, it was a constant reminder that she was slowly running out of time. With every tick-tock that went by, she was a second closer to dying in this tomb. She could feel tears of despair returning, but she quickly wiped them away.

"No," she said to herself. "I can't die. Not here." She lifted her head and looked straight into the darkness.

Her body craved for sustenance and rest, but the only food she had was a chocolate bar and several energy bars in her vest. Unsure of how long she would be trapped here, she had rationed her meager meal to a couple of bites.

Instead of deciding to take a few bites of food, Elizabeth stood up to stretch out her sore muscles. She left the gun on the ground beside the wall to mark her position and looked around into the blackness. Before her light ran out, she had committed the layout of the triangular room to memory. She knew exactly where the archway and its hall of corpses were. She could also see in her mind where the hateful orb stood in the center of the room.

She slowly took a step forward away from the wall and towards the center of the room with her hand out stretched, blindly searching for the orb. It was not long until her fingertips touched the cool orb. Her fingers felt around the sphere hoping to feel something that she missed with her eyes.

All she felt was the flawless surface of the orb beneath her fingers. She carefully knelt down on the ground and started to feel the surface of the pedestal again. Still she only felt the smooth perfect surface of the marble pedestal. She let out a despairing sigh, rested her forehead against the pedestal, and closed her eyes. She wished she knew how to escape this nightmare.

Eventually Elizabeth forced herself to open her eyes and stand up. Before she was ready to feel her way back to her spot, she looked straight ahead. Though she could not see it, she knew she was looking straight into the corridor of corpses.

She suddenly gasped and took a step back when she thought she saw a glow of light floating towards her from the corridor. At first, she blinked and shook her head thinking the darkness was playing tricks with her eyes and mind. She blinked and rubbed her eyes, but the glowing light was still there and slowly came closer towards her.

Her heart started to pound nervously as she slowly backed toward the corner she marked with her gun. The thought had not occurred to her before, but the eerie glow approaching her immediately caused her to question if she believed in the supernatural. She had never really believed in ghosts or vengeful spirits, but her present predicament of being trapped in a dark catacomb was causing her to think otherwise.

As the light approached her, she remembered seeing something like this once before. It reminded her of the time when the Proculus Priestess, Chaya Sar, came to Atlantis, and how she abruptly left when her identity was discovered. Elizabeth remembered seeing Chaya become enveloped by light as she returned to her ascended state of pure energy and glided through the Stargate.

The mysterious light gliding towards her looked very much like an ascended Ancient. Elizabeth's fear of meeting a vengeful spirit quickly dissipated. If this was truly an Ancient, there was a possibility that it could help her get out of this place.

Elizabeth prayed that the light at the end of this tunnel was Hope.

-----

"Colonel, didn't I tell you to get some rest?"

The familiar Scottish accent was muddled in John's brain as he lifted his sore neck from the table he fell asleep on.

"I _was_ sleeping." John rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

"I was thinking more along the lines of sleeping in a nice comfortable bed instead of stooped over a lab table," Carson said. "I bet you've just given yourself a good crick in the neck."

"I wouldn't say it's good, but I _do_ have a crick..." John said rubbing the back of his neck. "Where's McKay?"

"That's how I knew you were here," Carson said crossing his arms over his chest. "He came into the infirmary complaining of a neck cramp he got from sleeping at his desk again."

"Figures," John muttered and tapped a key on the laptop to start it up again.

"Colonel, I'm serious about you getting some rest." John ignored him. "Do you think this Elizabeth of yours would want you stay up all night searching for her and harming yourself in the process?"

John stopped and looked at the Scotsman. "First off, she isn't _my_ Elizabeth. We _all_ knew her. And no, she wouldn't want me to stay up all night."

"There you—"

"But," John said holding up a finger to prevent Carson from finishing his sentence. "If I was the one who was missing, she would probably do the same. In fact, she never gave up when my team and I were taken by Ford and his super soldiers. If Caldwell was really in charge, we would have been presumed MIA after the first two weeks."

Carson thought about John's reasoning. He seemed to have a point. When John and his team had been captured by Ford and his men, it seemed unlikely for Caldwell to pull all available teams to go and search for Sheppard's team on the fifty addresses they found. Still, no matter how hard he tried to think about this Elizabeth Weir, he couldn't remember her. Even though some unexplainable things had occurred, they seemed to make more sense when she was added into the equation.

"Look, doc. I'm not crazy."

"I never said you were. I just said that you needed rest, and I still think you do. And I suggest you do that right now. I don't want to have to force you to rest, Colonel." Before John could talk back to him he continued, "If you really want to find Elizabeth, you're no help to her half dead. Now off you go."

Carson stood there waiting for John to get up from the table. John was about to take the laptop with him, but Carson quickly shot him a look, and John decided it was best to leave it. He'd have to sneak back in here later to get it.

"Those things will be here when you wake up in a couple hours, Colonel."

"I know," he said reluctantly. "So are you going to walk me back to my room?"

"No, only part of the way," Carson smiled. "I trust you remember where your room is."

Carson stood by the door and waited for John to exit. Knowing that he wasn't going to be able to get away from sleeping this time, John obliged the doctor's request. Besides, he could barely see straight anymore. Before he fell asleep at the table, he swore he saw the text on the pictures start to wiggle.

Just a couple hours of rest, that was all he needed. That was all he could he afford. That was all Elizabeth could afford, he thought as he turned the corner towards his room.

-----

It seemed like an eternity for the glowing entity to reach the room Elizabeth occupied; yet it also seemed to happen so suddenly.

Elizabeth took another step back as the being entered the triangular room. She felt the wall against her back. Terror, fear, hope, confusion, awe, and wonder were just some of the emotions that flooded her mind. All the conflicting emotions made her want to sit down and cry. Instead, she held herself together and looked into the eyes of the being standing before her.

From a distance the being seemed to be only a glow of light, but when it finally entered the room, it took a human form and the tendrils of light surrounding it disappeared, revealing a woman dressed in a peplos. Though the lights around her were gone, light still seemed to emanate from her body, lighting the small room with a pallid glow. For a moment Elizabeth felt like she stood in a museum gallery observing a Hellenistic sculpture of a Greek goddess.

"Who are you?" Elizabeth asked with an almost steady voice.

"I am the one who cares for and remembers those who have been forgotten." The woman's voice was somber yet beautifully feminine.

"Excuse me?" Elizabeth looked at the being in front of her. "What is this place?"

"This is the Realm of the Forgotten," she said distantly as if she was remembering a memory of a long lost past.

"Why am I here?" Elizabeth asked.

The woman looked into Elizabeth's wide eyes. "You are here because your beloved had touched Lethe and sought to forget you."

"Lethe?"

The woman gestured towards the orb in the center of the room. Then Elizabeth remembered the quote she translated before.

_Placing one's hands on the Lethe will extricate all memory of a loved one that pains you._

"This is all a mistake," Elizabeth quickly said. "John isn't my beloved, and he didn't touch that thing to forget me. We were being chased by the Wraith and something within the vicinity was interfering with our equipment. We only touched Lethe in hopes of turning it off. There was never any intention of doing… this."

The woman listened patiently to Elizabeth's explanation. "You say this John is not your beloved, yet you are here," she said.

"It was possible that he was thinking of trying to save our lives, so I was probably the last thing on his mind when he touched Lethe," Elizabeth thought out loud. "The point is this is all a mistake."

"I am truly sorry," the woman said.

"What do you mean 'I'm sorry'?"

"I made Lethe many years ago, in the hopes of easing those who have suffered a loss from death. I was young and naïve. I never listened to what the others thought. I especially disagreed with our highest law to never interfere.

"For many years, I stood by and watched as the Wraith culled and took many lives leaving behind many distraught loved ones. For some it was only a matter of time before their hearts healed, only to face another culling or disease and lose another loved one.

"Our descendants have suffered so much and I thought that I could ease their burdens in hope of allowing them to forget certain things," she explained.

"But you were wrong."

"I was gravely wrong," she admitted. "People started to abuse the gift I gave them, and some innocents were chosen to be forgotten and left here to die a cold lonely death.

As punishment for my defiance to our highest law, I am forced to remain here and remember all these souls I have aggrieved. I have wandered these forests in hopes of keeping fear within the hearts of the villagers to prevent them from venturing into these ruins. Unfortunately, after ten thousand years, my faults have found yet another victim."

"Are you saying that there is no way out of here?" Elizabeth asked, afraid that she already knew her answer.

The Ancient gravely shook her head.

"What if someone changed their minds and wanted to remember someone?"

"How do you remember something you and everyone else has forgotten?" the Ancient asked solemnly.

Elizabeth dreaded those words. She could feel her throat choke up as tears were starting to moisten her eyes again. She quickly blinked back her tears and took a deep breath to steady her voice again.

"Has no one _ever_ remembered someone when they touched Lethe?"

The woman could see that Elizabeth was still grasping on to hope.

"There was one," she admitted. "One man, who loved his wife so dearly, that even after he touched the Lethe, he still could not forget her after her death. But everyone around him no longer knew of her existence; only he knew she existed. Day after day he sought her body, which laid here. For many years he searched for her, while the villagers all thought him mad. Finally, one day he found the stairs that led down here."

"Wait," Elizabeth interrupted. "You said there was no way out of here, and I don't remember seeing a way out."

"The underworld was never meant for the living."

"You said this man found an entrance down here. So there _is_ a chance in finding those who were forgotten." Elizabeth was still trying to grasp on to this shred of hope.

"Yes, there _was_" she said emphasizing the last word, which did not escape Elizabeth.

"What do you mean by 'was'?"

"When the man found the rotted corpse of his wife, he pushed himself over the edge and went mad with overwhelming grief again. In his madness he chose to stay. He was a skilled craftsmen and artisan and chose to seal the only entrance into here. Because I am not able to interfere, I could not prevent him from sealing the tomb," the Ancient said with downcast eyes.

"So there is no way of escaping here?"

"I am as much as a prisoner as you are."

"I know it is part of the Ascended laws to never interfere but…"

The Ancient held her hand up for Elizabeth to stop. "I am sorry. I am powerless in this matter."

Elizabeth thought about trying to plead with the Ancient again, but from her past experiences with Ancients, especially ones that were punished, many were hesitant in assisting. There were always a few exceptions, but this time was not the case.

As Elizabeth's gaze remained down on the ground, she noticed the light in the room start to glow brighter. She looked up to see that the Ancient was preparing to leave, subsequently leaving her in darkness again.

"Please, before you leave can you at least tell me who you are?"

"The people here knew me as Mneme."

"Mneme," Elizabeth repeated the name to herself. "I am Elizabeth Weir," she said as Mneme turned into a glowing orb again.

"Elizabeth Weir," Mneme's voice echoed in Elizabeth mind. "I promise to remember you."

Once again, Elizabeth stood alone in complete and utter darkness.


	5. Chapter 5

_**A/N: **Thanks for all the reviews! I'm glad many of you guys are intrigued with the storyline. So thanks again for reading. And thanks to my beta SallyLizzie. _

**Chapter 5**

John woke up with a start when he heard something fall onto the ground next to him. Then he remembered a book he hadn't bothered to remove from his bed when he was ordered to sleep by Carson.

He lifted his head towards the windows and noticed that it was dark outside.

"Crap," he muttered to himself as he sat up in bed, starting to pull on his shoes. He had only wanted to sleep for a couple of hours; instead he slept the whole day. He looked at his watch. It was already 17:00. "Dammit," he muttered again and raced out the door.

* * *

"Well, if it isn't Sleeping Beauty," Rodney said when John came into his lab.

"Cut the crap, Rodney. What do you have for me?"

"Nothing, just lots and lots of pictures and scribbles. I'm sure you noticed that last night when you made me sit with you here _all_ night. And thanks to you my neck still hurts," Rodney complained and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Stop being a pain in _my_ neck and tell me something useful already." Rodney was trying John's patience, but John refrained from being violent and only glared at Rodney.

"All right, you know all those pictures in that room, where the Ms. Cleo ball is?"

"Yeah, what about them?"

"Well, apparently, it tells a story of this guy who is in search of his dead wife."

"Yeah, I gathered that much from half of the translations I found."

"Doesn't that remind you of some other story?"

"Okay, guy searching for his dead wife. I..." Rodney looked at John waiting for him to finish his sentence.

"Just so you know you didn't finish that sentence... out loud..." Rodney trailed off when he had this strange feeling of déjà vu. He remembered making the exact same comment to someone before, and he was sure that it wasn't to John.

"You said this guy was searching for his dead wife. So he _knew_ that she was dead?" John finally said.

_"Her breathe of life was taken from me when she fell ill, and in my arms she lay cold and dead."_ Rodney read from a translation.

"I take that as a yes," John paused to think. "So that means there is only one place to look for her."

"Exactly." Rodney was about to continue talking but stopped abruptly. "Just so we're on the same page. You're thinking of the Orpheus mythology, right?"

"What else would I be thinking of? The Trojan War?"

"How would I know? I don't know how well you know your Greek mythology. You could easily confuse this with the Hades kidnapping Persephone to the underworld."

"No, I was not thinking of that," John scowled. "So how does the the Orpheus myth help with figuring out why no one remembers Elizabeth?"

"I don't know." Rodney rubbed the bottom of his chin and thought for a moment. "Didn't you find out something about the magic ball that wipes out people's memories?" he asked John.

"Yeah," John said, trying to think back to all the things he found last night. "Something like that, but my translations are a bit fuzzy. Every other word seemed to be the world 'beloved'. I just thought because I hadn't slept in 36 hours all the Ancient symbols were starting to look the same."

"Hm... probably," Rodney said more to himself. "Anyway somewhere in the translations this guy talks about how no one remembered who his wife was _after_ he came here, even though they were the 'hot' couple of the town. He was quite popular in the village being some hot shot town artisan or something."

"Okay, that explains... what exactly?" John's brain couldn't keep up. Maybe he still needed more sleep.

"If I translated this correctly, 'Lethe' is the magic ball."

"Lethe?"

"Yes, Lethe. In Hades there are two rivers..." Rodney started snapping his fingers as he tried to remember their names.

"Styx?" John supplied. Rodney gave John a look. "What? I swear I'm not talking about the band."

"Whatever," he waved away John's comment. "The River Lethe and River Mnemosyne. Lethe was the river where people drank from to forget about their past lives before they are reborn. But apparently, this particular Lethe is activated by touch and instead wiping a person's memory of everything, it wipes away the memory of a certain person in everyone."

John knitted his brows together as his brain tried to catch up with Rodney's theory. "What about the other river, Anemone?"

Rodney rolled his eyes, "Mnemosyne."

"Whatever, what about that river? What did that do?"

"Mnemosyne, the "spring of memory". People who drank from it would remember everything in their past life and be admitted to the Elysian Fields."

Rodney watched John furrow his brows as he tried to compute what Rodney just said.

"So this Nemesis is the key?" he finally asked.

"What?"

"The spring of memory!"

"Oh, why didn't you say so? You completely threw me off with the Nemesis references."

John resisted the urge to strangle Rodney. "Is the spring of memory the key to reversing this?"

"I don't know. From these texts, I'm not even sure if it _can_ be done. This whole memory wiping could be a one-way thing."

John watched as Rodney prepared to work on another project. "We need go back to the planet," he suddenly said.

"Nice try, Colonel. I talked to Caldwell about it, and he had the nerve to say that I shouldn't be an accomplice to chasing your phantoms."

"Didn't you even try to give it a cool weapon twist?"

"What? Tell him that we'll lure our enemies into touching this ball, and they'll forget every grudge they ever held against us? Is that the kind of twist you had in mind?" Rodney said sardonically.

"When you put it that way of course it doesn't sound good!"

"Sheppard, this isn't getting us anywhere." Rodney looked around and lowered his voice. "Are you _sure_ you are not just chasing phantoms?"

John also lowered his voice. "Rodney, I'm not being Jimmy Dean here and being a rebel without a cause. Elizabeth exists and I _know_ it. I have a feeling that she is still somewhere on that planet. Right now, I _need_ to get back on that planet."

"So what's stopping you?" Rodney asked folding his arms across his chest.

John looked at Rodney. He was right. What was stopping him?

"Is this all you can figure out with the data?" he asked instead.

"Yes."

"All right, thanks, Rodney."

"What are you going to do?" Rodney asked, suspicious, as John reached the lab doors.

"I'm going to chase some phantoms."

* * *

It was past midnight, John was stuffing all his supplies and gear into his backpack. He was determined to get back to M5G-382 as soon as possible. He had gathered all the data the scientists and archeologists could find to aid his search.

Except, the information he received still did not tell him the whereabouts of Elizabeth, nor did it help anyone else remember her. The only way for him to figure this out was to search the ruins himself. But first he had to figure out a way to get through the Stargate without getting shot or thrown into the brig for defying orders.

He figured he could easily knock out the skeleton staff in the control room, get the gate activated, and still manage to run through the gate without much confrontation.

His main concern was how he would conduct his search of the ruins. He knew Caldwell was probably going to send his men after him. He thought about gating to a different address first, but everyone knew where he was headed. They would just be waiting for him there. He might as well try to get there first and find a hideout.

He made a final check of the supplies that he needed, zipped up his backpack, and slipped on his vest over his jacket. He secured the P-90 to his vest and checked his sidearm before sheathing it in its holster. He strapped the backpack onto his back, strode across his room towards the door and took a deep breath. If he was going to doubt himself and change his mind, now was the time. When he stepped out of this door he was definitely rising among the ranks of "most likely to be discharged for insubordination". But if Elizabeth was truly out there dying, he would never forgive himself. Over the years, John had always trusted his instincts. He did it in Afghanistan to try and save his fellow comrades. He used his instincts to avoid being blown out of the sky by a wild drone when he flew General O'Neill to the Antarctic base. He also followed his instincts when he decided to come to Atlantis. He didn't know what laid ahead in his future, but he came. He wouldn't have it any other way.

If it weren't for Elizabeth, he wouldn't be here, because she was the one who approached him. She was the one who asked him to join her team when she found out that he had the ATA gene. She was the one who made him the ranking military officer after Sumner's death. She was the one who trusted him even when he defied her orders during the nanovirus incident. She was the one who stood by his side no matter what. Elizabeth was too much a part of his life in the past couple years to have only been a dream or fantasy. She was _real_, and he was going to find her.

John did not have to think about it anymore. He knew what he had to do. He waved his hand over the door sensors and cautiously made his way through the hallways towards the control room.

* * *

As he expected, there were only two people in the control room, staring listlessly at the glowing Ancient consoles before them. He calculated that there were about three guards stationed down below in the gateroom.

Since he was already in the control room, he figured he'd take out the two scientists manning the controls first and then head down into the gateroom. John stealthily crept behind one of the back control room consoles. When he was sure the two scientists had not heard him, he quickly shot them with a stunner. As soon as they were hit, the two scientists slumped over their consoles. Oddly, even though they were unconscious, it looked as if they were still sitting normally.

John peered down into the gateroom to make sure none of the guards had noticed any changes. He needed to do something to take all three guards out at once. He figured waltzing down into the gateroom in full gear at one in the morning would be more than suspicious.

He quietly unstrapped his backpack and removed his vest. He carefully laid them by the main gate controls. As soon as he took out the three guards he was going to run back up here, activate the gate, grab his things, make a sprint down the stairs, and through the Stargate. He would do it in record time, too. He decided to leave his sidearm behind, and he hid the Wraith stunner in the back waistband of his pants under his jacket.

John opted to take the main stairs down into the gateroom. The guard, who was pacing jadedly at the gate, suddenly stood rigid when he saw John coming down the stairs.

"Sir." The young man saluted.

"At ease," John said waving his hands at the lieutenant to relax.

"Yes, sir."

"Looks like a slow night," John said nonchalantly and looked around for the other two guards, who were still stationed at their posts.

"Yes, sir." The lieutenant hesitated before continuing. "Sir, with all due respect, shouldn't you be resting?"

"Beckett told me to rest, and I slept all day. Now I can't sleep. Thought I'd stretch my legs, maybe find something interesting." John stretched his arms out.

"Did you find anything, sir?"

John smirked. This was going to be easy. "Yeah," John said with a glint of excitement in his eyes. "Hey, you two come here," he called to the other two guards. "I might as well show them too, since we're all here."

"What about the docs?" the lieutenant said starting to look up in the direction of the control room.

"Those nerds?" John quickly said to bring the lieutenant's attention back to him. "They wouldn't understand the coolness of this."

"Sir?" the other two marines arrived next to them.

"Oh, here you guys are. I want to show you guys something. Now—" John saw that they were engrossed with curiosity and took his chance. He quickly pulled out his hidden stunner and quickly shot all three soldiers. "Sorry fellas, made ya look," he said watching the three downed men.

John quickly ran back up the stairs, skipping several steps on his way up and halted at the Stargate control console. He quickly pressed the gate address to M5G-382 with one hand, while the other tried to slip on his vest. As soon as he pressed the last button on the console, he grabbed his backpack and ran back down the stairs.

When he reached the event horizon, he didn't bother turning around to see if anyone was following him. He was sure they would follow him. This would be Caldwell's chance to send him packing back to Earth and out of his hair, if he had any.

It was still late afternoon at M5G-382 when John stepped through the gate.

"Talk about gatelag," John muttered to himself as the gate shut down behind him.

He was glad that at least he had some daylight to help him find the ruins quicker. He readjusted the gear he had just threw on himself as he sprinted away from the gate, wasting no time in heading towards his destination.

* * *

Colonel Steven Caldwell was _not_ happy. He hated being awakened in the middle of the night, and what he hated even more was when he was awakened on account of Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard.

He had predicted that Sheppard was going to disobey his direct order sooner or later, but he had hoped that sooner would be at a decent hour of the day and not at two in the morning.

He was starting to wonder why the hell he picked Sheppard to be on this expedition team in the first place. His natural talent with the Ancient gene wasn't worth this headache. Now that he thought about it, he didn't remember _ever_ picking Sheppard to be part of the Atlantis team or anyone else other than the crew of the _Daedalus_. Also, when he tried to remember all the events that happened in the first year of the expedition, he couldn't quite recall them. It was as if he wasn't there. But if he hadn't led the Atlantis expedition team, who had?

Caldwell shook questions from his mind. These questions were all side effects of not getting enough sleep and John Sheppard's ramblings. It was even possible that he might be losing his mind. If Sheppard kept spouting on about a Doctor Elizabeth Weir, he just might as well start spouting things about a government conspiracy or something.

Steven tried not to frown too much at the fact that Sheppard had snuck out and defied a direct order to search for a non-existent woman. At least they knew where he went; and he was sure that Sheppard knew that they knew where he was headed. As he set up several teams to search for Sheppard, he had a feeling they were going to come back empty-handed no matter what.

* * *

From the looks of the surrounding trees, John thought he was going the right direction, but the further he walked the more he was unsure of his location. The first time he found the ruins was purely accidental. Also, that time he was preoccupied with running from life sucking aliens. Furthermore, on the trip back, he was pretty much unconscious and didn't even remember the way, so he had no clue how far they had ran. He decided to follow his gut and strove on ahead.

All his doubt left him when he saw the column he and Elizabeth found the first time. But his interest wasn't in this column but the second column that was on the other side of the building.

John retraced his steps and arrived at the front door of the building. He looked out from the direction of the door to try and spot the second column. He remembered the aerial view of the area showing the column more than half a klick away.

He looked up at the sky and noted he probably still had a couple more hours of daylight. From what he remembered, the column was straight ahead from this doorway. He let out a deep breath and started walking straight ahead along the pathway that led away from the building.

Fifteen minutes passed before he found what he sought after. He smiled and placed his hands on the column.

"Now we're getting somewhere," he said to himself and looked at the base of the column.

Unsure of what to do next, John kicked the dirt around him as he observed the vicinity. Then he noticed several feet away, paralleled to the column he stood by, there was a stump that once was another column. He headed towards the stump and knelt down next to it and brushed some of the dirt from its base. He turned his head and looked back in the direction of the triangular building.

Apparently, there were _three_ identical columns around the building. All three he assumed said the same thing, stating that continuing beyond the columns was the key to forgetting something.

Frustrated with his lack of findings, John started to pace back and forth between the two columns kicking around more dirt like a little boy would. Just when he was ready to return to the building, he noticed something. He stooped down again and brushed the dirt with his hand. There was a crack, but it wasn't a crack. It was like a line formed between two slabs of rocks place side by side.

Invigorated by his discovery, John unstrapped his backpack and started to brush away more of the brown dirt. The more he brushed away the dirt, the more he noticed that this wasn't part of the pathway that led to the building.

He continued brushing aside the dirt and noticed that it wasn't a stone slab, but some kind of panel. He knocked on the surface of the panel several times, but stopped when he heard a branch snap under someone's weight. John remained still, not bothering to turn around.

"What took you so long?" he said, still not turning to face his pursuer.

"Well, sir. I was in the middle of visiting with the Sandman when you decided to sneak out of Atlantis," Major Lorne said with his hand resting on his P-90, just in case John decided to do anything brash.

"Sorry to shorten your visit with Mr. Sandman, Lorne." John stood up to face Lorne. He held out his hands to show he was empty handed. He glanced behind Lorne to see Ronon emerge from some trees. "You didn't need his help finding me, right?" John asked Lorne.

"You know, you took the long way here," Ronon said to John in his usual tone.

"Yeah, well, I like to take the scenic route for everything," John replied.

"Sir?" Lorne interrupted.

John looked at Lorne. "Look, I'll go back to Atlantis when I find Elizabeth."

"If you don't go back with us now, sir, Colonel Caldwell won't let you set foot back on Atlantis."

"If I go back with you now, I won't be able to set foot in Atlantis _ever_. Caldwell will strap me up and ship me back to Earth before you can blink and say 'puddlejumper'." John took a step forward towards Lorne and Ronon. "Look, I _need_ to find Elizabeth to prove that I'm not crazy."

"Sir, what if you don't find this Elizabeth?" When Lorne said Elizabeth's name aloud, it felt odd to him. He felt like he should have referred to her more formally, but he still could not remember nor understand why.

"Then it's probably better this way. Atlantis isn't the same without her. She liked you," John added. "You were usually her bodyguard, when I wasn't around."

Lorne gave a small smile and nodded knowingly. "For your sake, sir, I hope you find her."

"I hope I find her for both our sakes," John said more to himself than Lorne.

Lorne brought his hand up to give a salute. John returned his salute. Before leaving, Lorne clicked on his radio to disband the search and return home.

John looked over at Ronon, who remained standing in the same spot.

"Just like that?" Ronon asked after Lorne was out of sight.

"Just like that."

"Aren't I like your responsibility or something?"

"Yeah, _she_ was the one who made you my responsibility," John said making eye contact with Ronon.

"For someone who was so involved with all of us, why can't we remember her?"

"That is what I'm trying to find out," John sighed. "I'm sorry. Tell Teyla I'm sorry, too."

"Don't worry. We'll wait for your return."

"That's _if_ I ever return."

"You will."

"Thanks."

As soon as Ronon was gone, John quickly returned to his task. He plucked some branch leaves off a nearby tree, bundled them up into a broom, and started to sweep aside the dirt covering the panel. He hoped to find out what this oddity was before the sun set.

* * *

It was the highest law not to interfere, but as Mneme watched the man uncover the panel on the ground, she was sure this was not a coincidence.

When the man spoke with the two others, he spoke of finding a woman named Elizabeth. Mneme wondered if this could possibly be the same Elizabeth she had found below. If it was, it meant that this man had not forgotten Elizabeth, even after he touched Lethe. There was still hope of him finding Elizabeth in time.

He had already found the panel that opened down into the catacombs. All that he needed was to find a means to open it. He may not even need her help at all, but she decided to keep watch on his progress. If it were not because of the highest law imposed by the others, Mneme would have healed Elizabeth and reversed everything already. But she also knew that if she had tried, she would have been stopped immediately.

She watched him finally pack up his things, since the darkness now hindered more than helped him. She watched him use the back of his hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead and tiredly trudge back to the triangular edifice with a flashlight as his only companion.

She continued observing as John dropped his things inside the building and gathered some dried branches to make a fire for himself. He sat by the fire warming his hands, and stared through the flames as his mind drifted into his memories...

* * *

The thigh holster and the 9mm gun hung loosely in John's fingers as he held it out for Elizabeth. She only looked at the gun, then back at John as she zipped up the bulletproof vest.

"I don't think that is necessary, John."

"Why not?" He asked. "It goes with the whole outfit."

"John, I only agreed to wear the vest because I believed it would be no harm, but carrying a weapon when I'm supposed to be negotiating an alliance with future allies might send the wrong message."

"It's just a precaution."

"Precaution? From what? You said so yourself, these people were perfectly friendly and for the most part, harmless. Unless..." She trailed off and arched an eyebrow at John.

"The people on M5G-382 are great. One of these days, I'd love to sit down and have a drink with the chief. It's just a gut feeling," he finally said.

"John."

"Come on, I know your not big on guns, but just this once." He held the holster and gun out to her again.

Elizabeth crossed her arms over her chest. "No," she said keeping her stance. "I'm not taking the gun unless you give me a good reason to, and right now your 'gut feeling' isn't enough."

"Fine," he conceded. "At least wear the thigh holster." He removed the gun from the holster and held the empty holster out to Elizabeth. "It goes with the whole outfit."

"All right," Elizabeth shook her head, took the holster, and strapped it around her thigh. "Satisfied?"

"And you said I don't have good negotiation skills," he smirked.

"You don't."

"Well maybe I just have a bad teacher," he said looking at Elizabeth.

"Maybe the teacher has a bad student."

"The apple doesn't fall far from the tree."

Elizabeth furrowed her brows. "That only applies to people related to each other."

"Well, the whole point of teaching is to teach by example," he said.

"And you obviously don't pay any attention to my example."

"Maybe I'll surprise you and pay attention today."

"Maybe," she said doubtfully.

"Maybe," he said with a grin and exited Elizabeth's office and headed up the stairs to the Jumper Bay.

* * *

When they exited the Stargate and neared the village, John immediately cloaked the ship. "Something is wrong," he said to Elizabeth, who sat in the co-pilot seat.

"What is it?"

"I don't know. Something doesn't feel right."

John slipped his sidearm from his holster and handed it to Elizabeth.

Seeing the seriousness in his face, Elizabeth did not question him, accepted the gun from him, and slipped it into her empty holster.

"Okay." He eased the jumper down to a landing and stood up to address everyone in the jumper. "All right, folks, we're here. This might be nothing, but our welcoming party is late. From the last time we were here, they didn't look like the types who would be late for anything. So I'd rather we be safe then sorry." He walked into the back compartment of the jumper and grabbed a spare 9mm to replace the one he gave Elizabeth. "Lorne, your team will stay by the jumper and keep the Stargate secure. Doctor Weir, stay close to me. Everyone else, follow me. Let's move out."

Elizabeth quickly came up to John as the soldiers started to file down the jumper ramp. "What's going on?"

"It's just a precaution," he assured her. "Just stay close to me. Now let's go try and make some friends."

It wasn't long until they neared the village and were ambushed by the Wraith. That was when everything went to hell.

* * *

Elizabeth was in her own living hell. Time was irrelevant. She had no way of knowing how long she was in here. All she knew was that her meager portions of chocolate were gone and her throat was parched with thirst. She was also feeling light-headed and weak from hunger. In addition, the throbbing pain in her arm was worsening and she was starting to feel colder. She pulled her jacket tighter around herself and buried her head in her hands again.

She wished that Mneme would return and keep her company, even if she was only a delusional result from her pain and starvation. She scoffed to herself. She had been clinging so tightly to hope that she did not even think of the possibility that Mneme was not real and that her mind was only helping her to cope with her dark situation.

"Oh, my god..." Elizabeth said to herself. "Of course, Mneme was one of the original muses of memory in Greek Mythology." Elizabeth let out a despairing chuckle as tears spilled from her eyes. She was going insane. Mneme was all a part of her imagination. The Mneme that appeared to her was her mind's personification of memory, and the elaborate story about the Lethe and Forgotten Realm were pieces her brain put together to form a disjointed story.

Elizabeth was sobbing now. She didn't know which was worse: The realization that she would die in here alone, or that her new lygophobia was slowly driving her insane.

"Help me...," she whispered in between her sobs. "John, please find me..."


	6. Chapter 6

**_A/N:_ **_I actually don't have anything to say, but thank you for all the reviews and thanks to my beta!_

**Chapter 6**

_"John, please find me..." _

John blinked several times as he removed his gaze from the campfire. He blinked a few time to readjust his eyes. As he started looking around the room, he could still see the images of the flames and blinked again. He thought he had heard Elizabeth's voice pleading for him to find her. He stood up and tried listening again, but only heard the crackling of the firewood.

He sighed and figured now was the best time to take a gander at the drawings on the walls. He picked up his flashlight and walked towards a wall. He remembered some of them from the pictures he saw in Rodney's lab but there were others that he had not seen before.

By the looks of the artwork, the consistency of the drawings and writings implied that the same artist made them all. John continued walking along the wall, and stopped when he noticed half of one wall was completely blank. It seemed as though the artist was interrupted and never completed his work.

John looked closely at the last word before the drawing abruptly ended and noticed that the word translated to "underworld". John recalled Rodney speaking about the man who touched Lethe to forget his wife, only to go mad himself. John wondered if this was when the man finally went mad and sought the "underworld". Since his wife was dead, there was only one way of finding her. By killing himself...

"The poison that is love," he said to himself.

He ran his hands over the walls trying to find anything out of the ordinary, or anything that would open the panel he uncovered earlier. John had thought about touching the Lethe again, but he was afraid that he might accidentally send himself to oblivion. It was probably best that he left the crystal ball alone for now.

He continued walking until he reached the arched entrance to the building. He was about to return to sitting by the fire when he thought he heard something.

_Look up. _

John was not sure why, but he looked up. He saw an object that was right above the entrance. He shined his flashlight on it and saw that it was a triangle that had symbols engraved on it. He did not think much of it and sat down again.

He felt a bit hungry and started looking through his vest for a Power Bar. While he was searching for his snack, he saw his radio and pulled that out instead. He remembered that Elizabeth had a radio with her. If she were within radio range, she might be able to hear him. He clicked it a few times, and finally, he spoke into it.

"Elizabeth? This is Sheppard. Can you hear me?" He waited for an answer. As he expected, there was no response.

"Elizabeth? This is John. Can you hear me?" He tried again.

Nothing.

"Elizabeth?"

Nothing.

John didn't know what he was expecting other than disappointment. He turned off the radio to conserve the battery, and replaced the radio in his vest to continue searching for his snack.

* * *

The sound of a familiar voice combined with static woke Elizabeth from her dreamless sleep.

_"Elizabeth... This... John..."_

When she heard John's name, she sat up too quickly and regretted it. Her arm immediately reminded her she should not have done that. Ignoring her pain, she groped blindly in the darkness to the general location where she laid her vest and radio.

_"Elizabeth?" _

Elizabeth's hand frantically searched for her radio. John was here. He was looking for her; all she needed to do was find her damn radio. Her hand found the radio, and she quickly brought it up to her lips.

"John?" her voice came out shaky. "John? No, no, John, I'm here!" she cried desperately into the radio.

There was no response. She was too late. He had turned his radio off. She rested her forehead against it and waited. Hoping he would try to contact her again. As the silent seconds ticked by, her tears returned. She began to feel faint and dizzy. Even though only blackness was visible to her, she could feel her vision going dark as the darkness of unconsciousness enveloped her.

* * *

Dawn was breaking when John woke up the next morning. It looked to be a warm day so he left his jacket and only took his necessary supplies with him. After gathering his things, he wasted no time and headed back to the panel he partially uncovered the night before.

He worked until the planet's sun was high in the sky, and since there were no trees to provide shade around the columns, the hot sun was baring down on his back. But he still refused to stop.

A couple of hours later, he was able to completely uncover the panel. It was an equilateral triangle that was a meter on each side. The panel itself was plain. There were no engravings or any specific patterns. It looked like a tile that was placed between the two columns to show that the path led to the entrance of the building.

"Looks like there's a theme here," John said and used his dagger to scrap out the dirt that was in between the cracks. As he cleaned out the cracks, he noticed that the panel was about a centimeter in thickness. He tilted his dagger and tried to slip the tip of it under the panel. To his surprise, the panel lifted up slightly.

Something was under the triangular panel. This time John tried to lift the panel high enough so he could slip his hand under to push it off the ground. He carefully pushed the panel off the ground and laid it down on the ground next to him.

He blew away the dirt on the bottom tile and found something he had not expected. Within the triangle on the ground was a smaller triangle indented in the center. Around the indented triangle, written in Ancient, were the words: birth, life, and death. Beneath the triangle, in large letters, the words translated to: Gateway to the Underworld.

"Okay, so this is the entrance to the underworld..." he trailed off, trying to figure out what to do next. "Open Sesame!" Nothing happened. "Please?" he added.

Nothing.

"That was pointless."

He reached over and used his fingers to wipe away the excess dirt that had collected in the concaved triangle. Suddenly he stopped. He remembered where he had seen the exact same sized triangle.

Jumping to his feet, he ran back towards the building. Breathlessly, he reached the entrance and peered up to the decorative triangle he saw the night before. He reached up to see if the object was removable. With both hands, he easily lifted the triangle out of its slot, and brought it down for closer inspection. The triangular block was an opaque amber color with Ancient designs, and it had the Ancient words: birth, life and death, inscribed upon it. John was sure that this had to be a key to opening the "Gateway to the Underworld". If it was not, it didn't hurt for him to try. He hoped.

He ran back to his digging site and placed the triangle into the groove. Immediately the amber block melded into the groove and the triangular panel slid under another unseen panel, revealing a stairway that led underground.

He quickly grabbed his P-90 and flashlight and climbed down the stairs. When he reached the bottom of the stairs, he came face to face with a dead end.

"Oh, come on," he groaned. He pounded his fist against the brick wall to see its sturdiness. John quickly stopped when dust from the ceiling rained down on him, making him to cough. He looked at the walls to his side and noticed that the brick wall was added in later.

As he scratched his head trying to figure out how to knock the wall down, he started to feel for the archeologists. All this searching for clues and careful digging was tedious and frustrating.

But he wasn't an archeologist and his main concern was not preserving the site. He ran back up the stairs and noticed that the sky outside was cloudy and looked like it was about to pour.

"You've got to be kidding me?" he muttered to himself and grabbed several pieces of C-4 and ran back down the stairs.

He strategically planted the C-4 on the wall and hoped the blast would be big enough to break down the wall and not cause the tunnel to collapse. He ran out of the stairway to a safe distance and pressed the trigger for the charge to go off.

After the explosion, a dust cloud drifted out of the stairway opening. He waited for the dust to settle before he ventured back down to survey the damage. As he made his way down, he coughed and waved away the dust that still lingered in the air. He was pleased to see the wall was now a pile of rubble.

Armed with his gear, he shined his flashlight into the tunnel and found an endless dark passageway. He took a deep breath, licked his lips, and climbed over the debris on the ground.

He cautiously walked through the long corridor and saw nothing along the walls. He thought that it might have been a secret underground passage, or it might have been a hiding place from the Wraith. But his initial thoughts were quickly disbanded when he saw several slots along the sides of the corridor as he walked deeper.

Shining his flashlight into one of the slots, John immediately recognized the skeletal remains of a human. He stooped to inspect the slot beneath the first and found the same. He walked to the opposite wall and found more skeletons. He also noticed some slots were vacant, perhaps still waiting for an occupant.

"So this is the 'underworld'," he muttered to himself walking forward, deeper down the corridor. "Let's just hope I don't need a gold coin to cross to the other side."

The corridor seemed endless to John. He felt as if he had walked for an hour before he saw the tomb slots end and spotted an archway from a distance. The light from his flashlight reflected off a familiar round object.

As he drew nearer to the archway, he recognized the pedestal to be identical to Lethe on the surface. He moved the beam of light around the pedestal to inspect the surrounding area as he continued to walk towards it.

Then he suddenly stopped. The beam of his flashlight landed on something. He squinted from the limited light and saw it was an outstretched hand. His heart skipped a beat. The hand was holding onto something that he could not make out in the dark.

He began walking faster, keeping his eye on the outstretched hand. His heart started to beat faster when he recognized that the object was a radio. Then he remembered where he had seen those long, slender, perfectly shaped fingers before. Countless of times, he had seen those fingers delicately tap the keys of a laptop, clasp together in nervous concern, or tapping lightly on the conference tables during briefings. Now those fingers lay limply grasping onto a radio.

"Elizabeth!" He ran up to her unmoving form and touched the side of her neck for a pulse. He let out a relieved sigh when he felt her faint pulse.

"Elizabeth?" His voice came out soft, filled with concern. He removed the radio from her hand and cradled her head under one arm, gently tapped her cheek to try and wake her. "Elizabeth..."

As he continued to try and gently shake her awake, the side of her jacket that loosely draped over her shoulder slipped and John noticed the discoloration of her injured arm. Seeing that she was injured, he was more careful in moving her, afraid to hurt her even more.

"Elizabeth," he called to her again. "It's me, John. Elizabeth?"

He noticed her chest rise as she took in a deep breath and opened her eyes weakly.

"I knew you'd remember me," she said faintly and smiled before closing her eyes again.

"Elizabeth, stay with me. I'm going to get you out of here and back to Atlantis." Elizabeth only nodded and leaned her head closer to John's warm body. "Can you move?"

"I don't know," she said in a whisper.

"How's the arm?"

"Hurts."

He winced when he got a closer look at her swollen and bruised arm. "Okay, can you hold this?" He put the flashlight in Elizabeth's hand.

She nodded. Seeing the light in her hands, and feeling John next to her, her will to live had returned.

"This might hurt a bit." He draped Elizabeth's jacket over her shoulder, and stooped to pick her up.

Elizabeth winced, for the slight movement caused a jolt of pain to shoot through her.

"Are you okay?"

"No," she said shaking her head.

"You will be, I promise."

Elizabeth smiled. She remembered the first time John had said those words to her. She had been so shaken up by the whole ordeal with Kolya and the impending tidal wave that all she could say was "no". But when he said she would be okay, she knew he was right. They had survived. Now he was promising her again, and doubt never crossed her mind.

She buried her head into John's neck as he started to carry her back out towards the entrance.

When they neared the entrance, John could smell the familiar scent of wet pavement. Just want he needed. Rain added to his day. At least he had found Elizabeth, he thought, and held onto her tighter.


	7. Chapter 7

_**A/N: **This story is near ending three more chapters to go and I'm done! But, sadly, I'm not at that point yet. But thanks for all the reviews. And thanks to my Beta SallyLizzie. Thanks all! _

**Chapter 7**

At the foot of the stairs leading down into the tomb, John could see the rainwater trickle down the steps. From the heavy patter of raindrops, he could tell it was pouring outside. Since Elizabeth's body was already very weak, drenching her in heavy rain might compromise her health further. However, he was not sure how long the rain would last, for they could end up waiting here indefinitely.

"Elizabeth?"

"Hm?"

"It's pouring outside, we should wait for it let up. I'm going to put you down here and go back for your stuff, okay?" Elizabeth lifted her head slightly to look at John. "I promise you. I'll be right back. Here." He took the radio in his pocket. "Here is your radio. If you need anything, call me. I'll hear you. I'll be right back.Promise."

She agreed with a weak nod and John eased her onto the ground and leaned her against a wall a short distance from the stairs, just in case the water started to flow deeper into the tunnel.

John brushed a brown curl from her face and lightly touched the scratch on her cheek. "I'll be right back," he said again, then grabbed his flashlight, and ran back into the catacomb.

As soon as John traveled a few feet down the corridor, Elizabeth could see the darkness envelop him. He promised he would return to take her home, but she missed him already.

She turned her head towards the entrance and saw the rubble that was once a wall. She had been alone in the darkness for so long that she longed to go outside, even if it was raining. She tried to stand, but the slightest movements made her head spin. She decided it was best to wait for John.

Leaning her head back against the wall, she closed her eyes and listened to the rainfall outside. After a while, she heard the echo of John's footsteps returning. He jogged passed her and tried to see if the rain had lessened.

"How are you feeing?" John asked, returning to her side.

"Thirsty," she said.

"And hungry, I bet. It's still raining, but it looks like it lightened up. I think I can get us back to the building without us getting too wet," he said and scooped her up in his arms again.

Thunder rumbled across the sky as they came to the surface. The rain had trickled down to a light drizzle as they made their way back to the building.

"Looks like we might have to stay the night," he said when he saw a flash of lightning light the sky followed shortly by another thunderous roar. He quickened his pace and made sure not to jostle Elizabeth too much as the building came into view. He glanced down at her. Her head was tilted down and buried in his chest as she tried to shield her face from the drizzling raindrops that clung to her brown curls like shimmering pearls.

When they reached the shelter, John settled Elizabeth down in the corner furthest from the entrance. Then he began sifting through his supplies, found a bottle of water and a small towel before returning to Elizabeth's side.

"Here, drink some water." He uncapped the canteen and put the bottle to Elizabeth's lips. He slowly tilted the bottle for her to drink. "Easy now, there is plenty of water here, and more," he nodded towards the outside as the sound of heavy rainfall began again.

Though her body craved water, she could not resist stopping and smiling at his comment.

"Do you want more water?" he asked. She nodded, and he placed the canteen. He then picked up the towel to wipe away the rainwater on her face.

"You brought a towel?" Elizabeth asked, amused, after she had satiated her thirst.

"Can't travel the galaxy without one," he smirked and continued to dab the towel on her cheek.

A breeze blew into the room and Elizabeth shivered in her damp clothes.

"Let's get you into some warmer things." He helped remove her damp jacket and grabbed a blanket he had brought along with his supplies, and wrapped it around her.

"Did you bring the kitchen sink too?" she asked.

"Of course, it's out in the back," John replied, as he took a turn about the room to find a spot to let her jacket dry. Eventually he just draped it over the Lethe orb. It wasn't like he was planning to use the orb again anytime soon. "Good to see you've still got your sense of humor," he said and went back to sifting through his supplies.

Elizabeth shrugged and leaned her head back against the wall. "It helps that I'm not alone in the dark anymore."

"And I bet a bowl of Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup would help even more." He proudly pulled out a can from his bag.

"Did you bring that back from Earth?"

"I swiped it from the commissary. I knew they were holding out on us." John put the can down and started to pile some wood he had gathered for his campfire the day before. "As soon as I get the fire up, I'll cook you dinner."

"Thank you, John."

"It's nothing. It's not like I'm really cooking, just open the can—"

"No, John," she interrupted him, "I mean, thank you, for coming back for me."

"Of course, I'd come back for you. 'Leave no man behind', right?"

"No, thank you... for remembering me," she finally said in a near whisper.

John looked into her eyes and he could see tears starting to brim around them. He could only imagine how she managed to survive all alone in the dark catacomb. He was surprised to see her still so strong after several days without food or water. People had a tendency to underestimate Elizabeth from first glance, but he new better.

"I would never forget you, Elizabeth," he said and lit the campfire. "Now," he changed the subject, "let's see that arm of yours."

He furrowed his brow at the sight of Elizabeth's bruised arm. "What happened?"

Elizabeth closed her eyes as she struggled to remember. "I'm not too sure. After you left, another Wraith came in. He knocked the gun from my hand and slammed me against a wall. I think that is when I broke my arm." She brought her hand up to her forehead. "That's all I can remember right now."

"It's all right." He found a spare tourniquet and started to make it into a makeshift sling. "I can't think when I'm starving either. Here." He carefully looped the "sling" around Elizabeth's arm and neck. "Hopefully, that doesn't cut off circulation to your hand."

After wrapping the blanket around Elizabeth again, John moved over and rubbed his hands together over the fire to warm them. Picking up the can of soup, he used his dagger to open the top, poured its contents into a small pot, and held it over the fire to warm it.

Every now and then, he would stir the pot with a spoon and sneak a peek over at Elizabeth from the corner of his eye and see that her eyes were closed. John wished the rain would cease and let him take Elizabeth back to Atlantis where she could get some much needed food and a comfortable bed to recover in, but this was not too bad. They had a roof over their heads and a warm fire. They would survive one evening here.

The soup came to a slow boil and its aroma permeated the small room. John took a sip of the soup and gently shook Elizabeth to wake her.

"Dinner is ready," he said holding up the small pot. He scooped up a spoonful and blew on the steaming soup before bringing it to Elizabeth's lips.

Elizabeth never thought that canned soup heated over a campfire could taste so good. She felt odd having John feed her, although he didn't seem to mind and patiently fed her until she finished half of it. Even though she had not eaten for days, her appetite was small, though the discomfort from her fractured arm may have attributed to it.

"Are you sure you're full?" John asked stirring the spoon in the pot.

When Elizabeth nodded, he shrugged and finished off the soup himself then he offered her some water, which she graciously took.

"You should get some rest," John said, putting the empty pot off to the side. He grabbed his dry jacket and folded it up into a pillow, placed it on the ground, and helped her to lie down.

Another flash of lightning lit up the sky as John put several more branches into the fire. He wanted the rain to stop so he could retrieve the keystone. But the heavy rain clouds and increase in thundering signaled that the rain was not going to end for several more hours.

He looked over at Elizabeth's sleeping form and decided he should retrieve the stone before she woke, but before he reached the door, she stirred.

"John? Where are you going?" she asked, her eyes looking up at him.

"You should be resting," he knelt down next to her.

"Where are you going?" she repeated.

"I'm going to get the keystone and some things I left at the tomb entrance."

"It's still raining outside," she said.

"I'll be fine. I'll be back before you even know that I've gone. Here." He placed her radio beside her. "If you need anything, I'll only be a click away."

Just as he was about to get up and leave, Elizabeth grabbed his hand. John took her hand into his. "I'll be fine. Just get some rest. When you wake, I'll be here. I promise." He gave her hand a squeeze and left the building.

By the time he reached the tomb entrance, John was soaked. The rain had washed away the excess dirt that layered the entrance cover. The tomb entrance was closed with the keystone still upon it. John did not remember closing the entrance. He was not sure if he even knew how. Presently, that was unimportant.

He quickly retrieved the stone and grabbed a few other things he had left in the rain, which included his vest that he had removed earlier when uncovering the panel.

As he made his way back, a thunderous roar echoed in the sky. And when John thought the rain could not fall any harder, the skies proved him wrong. At least back at the building, he had someone waiting for him and a nice warm campfire to dry him with, he thought, and continued jogging through the rain.

* * *

_How do you find something that has been forgotten?_

Elizabeth woke up with a start. In her hands, she clutched the radio John gave her.

It was real. John had went down into the depths of the tomb and brought her back to the world of the living. She did not know how long she had dozed off, and she wondered if John had returned. She saw a shadow across the room and turned her head slightly to see clearer.

From the firelight, she could see that John was soaking wet and his clothes clung tightly to his body. He was in the process of taking out some things in his bulletproof vest before laying it out flat to dry. He then attempted to dry out his black T-shirt by twisting the corners of it. Eventually, thinking Elizabeth was asleep; he pulled off his shirt so he could wring it out more effectively.

Elizabeth could not help but noticed how the water made John's back glisten in the amber light. The way his muscles rippled with every movement made her feel guilty for her close observations of him.

He held his shirt near the fire hoping the heat would dry it quickly, but John still had another dilemma. His pants were soaking wet as well. Like his shirt, he had not thought to bring an extra pair with him.

John sighed and decided to make the best of it and sat down with his legs outstretched next to the fire, and tried squeezing water from the material. John leaned back on his elbows like he was sunbathing and glanced over at Elizabeth, who had immediately closed her eyes when he looked in her direction.

Thinking that Elizabeth was still asleep, he continued to dry himself. He took the towel, dried his hair, and then hung the towel around his shoulders.

He placed his hand on his T-shirt to see its drying progress. He figured that it would be a while until his clothes dried, so he grabbed some nearby sticks and fed them into the fire.

During this time, Elizabeth continued observing him through her half opened eyelids. She watched the movement of his lean arms as he raked his fingers through his unruly hair and then tossed another stick into the crackling flames.

"Who knew Doctor Elizabeth Weir was a peeping Tom?" John said lighting one end of stick with the fire.

Elizabeth closed her eyes and blushed. She hoped that if she remained silent and continued to pretend sleeping John would not continue to accuse her of peeping.

"But since you are injured," he continued. "I forgive you." He crawled over to where she laid and sat back against the wall. "How are you feeling?" He placed a hand on her forehead.

"Tired, and still dizzy when I move," she said trying to sit up.

John gave her a hand to help her sit back up. She leaned her head tiredly against the wall and gave John a sidelong glance.

"Aren't you cold?"

"Not really. I'm just freezing."

"Here." She handed him his rolled up jacket. "I'm not using it anymore."

"No, I think you need it more than me," he said. Elizabeth gave him a glare that made him immediately change his mind and took the jacket from her hands. "For someone who can barely stand, you're pretty intimidating."

"I'll take that as a compliment," she said as John slipped on his jacket.

"As you well should," he said and reached over for the triangular keystone. He fiddled with the stone in his hands for a while and looked over at Elizabeth, who was also looking at the keystone.

"Elizabeth, you don't know how happy I am to find you," he confessed.

"Same here."

"I mean, no one remembered who you were, or even knew you existed. I even tried to look for evidence of you, but it was like you were wiped away from everything," he explained. "I almost thought I was going insane."

"When I was trapped down there, I thought I had gone insane too," she admitted. "I saw something, an Ancient. She called herself Mneme. She said she was the one responsible for that." She pointed to the orb that her jacket was draped over.

"Ah, good ol' Lethe, the bane of my existence... Well, more _your_ existence. Since it made you disappear. But you're here, so you exist. Everything should be fine now."

"I hope so," she said and leaned her head against John's shoulder.

As Elizabeth drifted off to sleep, John hesitantly wrapped his arm around her to keep her warm, and continued keeping watch for the night.


	8. Chapter 8

_**A/N: **Almost the end! And thanks to my beta SallyLizzie and thanks to all the reviews! _

**Chapter 8**

The faint morning that crept through the entrance woke John. He found Elizabeth still asleep on his lap. He brushed a curl aside and watched her sleep. During most of the night, Elizabeth had stirred restlessly in her sleep. He wondered what had happened to her when she was trapped down in the tomb, but he doubted she would ever tell him.

Since she had not fallen into a deep slumber until dawn, he did not want to wake her, but he _did_ want to get her back to Atlantis.

He slowly eased her head off his lap and gently laid it onto the ground. He grabbed his shirt, which still lay next to the burnt out fire, and slipped it on. He walked over to the entrance and peeked out from under the dewy foliage to find clear blue skies overhead.

"Nice weather for a long walk," he thought out loud.

After stuffing all their supplies into his backpack, John finished getting geared up and gently scooped Elizabeth back up into his arms.

She was still asleep when he reached the Stargate. John was not sure how he managed it, but he somehow dialed the gate address on the DHD without putting Elizabeth down on the wet ground.

The familiar sound of the Stargate chevrons locking quickly finished and a wormhole to Atlantis was established.

He keyed in his IDC and waited for his interrogation to begin.

* * *

"Unscheduled off-world activation," the technician on duty said over the intercom. 

Caldwell stepped away from his office and headed to the control room.

"What is it?" he asked the technician.

"We're reading Colonel Sheppard's IDC."

Caldwell knew that Sheppard was well aware of the consequences if he ever stepped foot back on Atlantis. The only reason Caldwell could think of that would make Sheppard return to Atlantis was that he had found the woman, Elizabeth Weir.

He clicked on his head set. "Colonel Sheppard, I gave you a chance to come back with Major Lorne. That chance is gone."

"Colonel," John's voice came through the radio. "I told Major Lorne that I would come back _after_ I found Doctor Weir. And I have found her. Right now she is in dire need of medical attention."

"What's going on?" McKay asked entering the control room. "Is that Colonel Sheppard?"

"How do I know you are telling me the truth, Colonel?" Caldwell asked, ignoring Rodney.

"If you lower the shield and let me through, I'll show you," John replied.

Rodney scoffed. "What? You think that Sheppard just pulled some woman off the street and is calling her Elizabeth so he can get back into Atlantis?"

Caldwell continued ignoring Rodney even though he made a valid point.

"Sir, she needs immediate medical attention. Let us through and you can interrogate me as much as you want _after_ she's been checked out by Doctor Beckett." John's voice echoed on the radio.

"Fine," Caldwell finally agreed. "Lower the shield and get a medical team to the gateroom." He turned to Major Lorne, "I want Sheppard apprehended once he comes through."

Moments later John stepped through the gate with Elizabeth in his arms to the warm welcome of his men pointing their weapons at him.

"Thanks for the warm welcome, guys." He glared up at Caldwell standing above in the control room balcony.

John stood in place and waited for Carson and his medical team to enter with a gurney. He carefully laid Elizabeth on the gurney and brushed her hair away from her sleeping face.

"Careful, her arm is broken. She's very weak and she has not eaten any real food for days," he informed Carson.

"Don't worry, Colonel. I'll take good care of her."

"I'm sure you will, doc. I'll come and check on her when... _if_ I can," he amended, when he saw Caldwell coming down the stairs towards him.

"I see you have found this Doctor Weir of yours," Caldwell said not bothering with salutations.

"Yes, I have." John matched Caldwell's frown. "Apparently, I'm still the only one who remembers Elizabeth."

"Apparently so," Caldwell said wryly.

"You don't believe that she is Elizabeth."

"I don't know what to believe, Sheppard. I don't recall _ever_ meeting this woman before."

"With all due respect, sir, she _is_ Elizabeth Weir whether you believe it or not. You can ask her anything about the Atlantis expedition and you'll be hard pressed to find that the things she knows could be the fabrication of a delusional dream."

"Don't worry. I _will_ speak to her when she's conscious."

"No, this isn't right."

"What isn't right?" Caldwell scowled.

"I found her. Everything should return to normal," John said more to himself than Caldwell. "I need go to back," he finally said to Caldwell.

"You're not going anywhere, Colonel. I'm putting you under house arrest." Caldwell turned to Major Lorne. "Major, please escort the colonel to his quarters."

"Yes, sir." Lorne looked at John and shrugged. "Sir?" He gestured for John to take the lead.

* * *

"Hello, love." A familiar Scottish voice greeted Elizabeth when she woke up in the infirmary. 

"Carson," she smiled. "What happened?"

"Colonel Sheppard brought you back earlier today. You fractured your humerus, but we fixed that by giving you a more secure and steady sling to keep your arm from moving."

Elizabeth looked down at her arn to see her new, less crude, sling. "Where is John?"

"Colonel Sheppard is under house arrest," Carson sighed.

"Why?" She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

"To be honest, Colonel Sheppard says you are Doctor Weir, but we have no proof that you are her."

"What do you mean, Carson? It's me, Elizabeth. We've been working together for over two years." She said exasperated; everything was _not_ back to normal. Finding her was not enough to reverse the effects of Lethe. Something else had to be done and she didn't know what.

"Can I speak with Colonel Sheppard?" she asked.

"I don't know, but I'll see what I can do. I think Colonel Caldwell would like to speak to you first though. But right now I want you rest more. I'll send someone with a tray of food for you shortly."

"Thank you, Carson."

* * *

John paced back and forth in his room, tossing his football back and forth. He wanted to be in the infirmary sitting by Elizabeth's side when she woke up. Instead, he was stuck in his room. 

He was tired of waiting. He tossed the football onto the bed and waved his hand over the door sensors. As the door slid open, Major Lorne stood in front facing him.

"Major, lieutenant." John greeted the two soldiers at his door. "Having fun keeping my door company?"

"Lots," Lorne said dryly. "I think the door and I have some chemistry. I was just asking Lieutenant Connors here if I should ask it out."

"Well, you two would make an... interesting couple. You might even become the talk of the town."

"No kidding," Lorne muttered. "So going somewhere, sir?"

"Actually, I'm going and see Doctor Weir."

"Okay," Lorne said simply.

"Okay?" John narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

"Colonel Caldwell just gave us the green light to let you go to the infirmary to see Doctor Weir," the Air Force Major explained.

"All right, what are we waiting for?"

"We were waiting for you, sir."

"That was a rhetorical question, Lorne."

"I know, sir," Lorne smirked.

"And they say I have issues with chain of command," John muttered then turned to Lieutenant Connors. "That is an example of how _not_ to behave towards your superior officers."

"Yes, sir." The lieutenant nodded.

"Like you're a prime example of good behavior, sir?" Lorne asked.

"You see what I deal with?"

Connors only shrugged and continued following the two men towards the infirmary.

* * *

Elizabeth was in the middle of eating dinner when John and his escorts entered the infirmary. 

"Look, I have _two_ new best friends this time," John said approaching her side and glanced over to Lorne and Connors, who stayed back a short distance to give them privacy. "Good to see you up. You were out cold when I brought you back."

"What can I say? You make a very comfortable pillow," she smiled teasingly.

"All part of the job description," he smirked. "So how are you feeling?"

"I could be better," she sighed and put her fork down on the tray. "I just finished talking with Colonel Caldwell."

"And?"

She leaned closer to him. "We have to go back," she whispered to him.

"No, _I_ need to go back," he corrected. "You're staying here. You're not fully recovered yet."

"John, how are you going to convince them to let you go, short of sneaking off in the middle of the night again?"

John grimaced. "He told you."

"Yes, he did," she said. "He told me what happened when you were first brought back from M5G-382."

"Well, it doesn't matter. You're here. You're my evidence that I'm not crazy."

"I know. That is why I have to go with you. I saw her, Mneme. She would know how to fix this. Even though she said the effects of Lethe were never reversed before, I'm sure there is a way to undo it. We just have to go back and find out how. I'm sure it might have something to do with the twin pedestal in the tomb I was trapped in. Why have two identical orbs? Unless..."

"...One was the 'on' and the other was the 'off' button," he finished.

"Exactly. We just need to speak to Colonel Caldwell about letting us go back," Elizabeth said picking up her fork again to eat.

"Not us; me," he corrected again.

"We'll see about that." Elizabeth arched an eyebrow and took a bite of her mash potatoes.

"Well, doctor, that's all up to Doctor Beckett. Not me." He picked up the unused spoon on her tray. "May I join you?"

"Yes, you may, but hands off the jello." She pointed to the cup of red jello cubes.

"Who knew Doctor Weir had a sweet tooth and is a Peep—" Elizabeth shot John a deadly glare. "P-Perfect lady," he quickly amended and looked over at his two 'best friends', who wisely pretended to ignore the exchange between the two leaders.

* * *

"Doctor, did you want to see me?" Caldwell asked when he entered the infirmary to see Elizabeth reading a book that Carson lent her to pass the time after John returned to his quarters. 

"Yes, colonel." She closed the book. "I have question: Who is commanding the _Daedalus_?"

"What are you trying to get at, doctor?"

"From what I remember, commanding the _Daedalus_ is a full time job on its own. Especially when it takes nearly eighteen days for just one trip to Earth and over a month for a round trip. Isn't it crucial for the leader of the Atlantis expedition to be present and not gone every other month? So I ask you, who is commanding the _Daedalus_ at this moment?"

"No one is. A new commander is being selected at the moment and on the next trip back he will be the new commander."

"And who was commanding the _Daedalus_ before?"

"I was." He crossed his arms over his chest.

"Don't you think it is odd that you were sent here to command both the _Daedalus_ and Atlantis simultaneously, especially when we know both positions are full-time jobs?"

"What is this, doctor? A psychoanalysis? From what Sheppard told me, you are a diplomat, not a psychologist."

"I'm not psychoanalyzing anyone. I'm just trying to point out the discrepancies in this... reality. Don't you feel how things are slightly off? Do you really think that our foreign allies would have allowed the United States military to have full control over this expedition?" Caldwell looked at her skeptically. "Something happened on M5G-382 and we need to fix what happened."

"We?"

"Yes, Colonel Sheppard and I."

"What if you are just trying to escape?"

"Escape to where?" she scoffed. "Colonel, you can send a team along with us to make sure we don't escape if that will make you happy."

"I'll think about it," he finally said.

Elizabeth let out a frustrated sigh as she watched Caldwell leave the infirmary.

* * *

Caldwell waved his hand over the sensor to enter Sheppard's quarters and found John sitting in his bed reading a book, presumably, to pass the time during his house arrest. 

"Sir." John closed his book and sat up straight.

"I've decided to let you return to M5G-382 with Major Lorne's team."

"And Doctor Weir?"

"She's going to stay here."

"Good call."

"So you _will_ come back at the end of the day." It was a statement.

"Sir, I'm not going to run away," John said. "Why would I have come back here in the first place?"

"You said so yourself, Doctor Weir needed medical attention."

"And she did. But—" John gave up. He knew there was no point in arguing anymore. The sooner things were set right, the better. "When do I leave?" he asked instead.

* * *

John gently squeezed Elizabeth's hand when she slowly opened her eyes again. 

"Good morning," Elizabeth smiled sleepily.

"Sorry to wake you so early, but look what I brought." He held up a thick book in his hands.

"_War and Peace_? You finished reading it?"

"Pretty much," he shrugged.

"You haven't finished it."

"Okay, about halfway."

"You're not even close to halfway." She flipped open the book to where he bookmarked it. "Almost a quarter way through..."

"That is most _definitely_ a quarter of the book," he retorted. "Anyway I thought you might want something to read while you're stuck here." He placed the book on the stand next to her bed. "But you're looking better."

"Thank you. Carson has been taking good care of me. He's making sure I have plenty of food and rest."

"Yeah, Beckett is always insisting that I get some rest too."

"Maybe you should take his advice."

"Maybe, but not today," he said.

She shook her head at his playful insolence and noticed he was in full gear, prepared to go out on a mission. "Are you going somewhere?"

"That's why I asked to come here. I wanted to tell you that Caldwell okayed us," he nodded over to Major Lorne and his team standing off to one side, "to go back to M5G-382."

Elizabeth nodded.

"I know you wanted to come along and find Minnie—."

"Mneme," she corrected.

"Right, Mneme, with us, but I'm sure I'll find her. Besides, I think she helped me find you."

Elizabeth furrowed her brows, "You know the Ancients have a law saying they are not to interfere."

"You know there are always loop holes in every law. You're a politician. You should be familiar with that."

"Well, Earth politics doesn't involve ethereal beings that can take you out with a single thought."

"The first night I spent on M5G-382, I thought I heard your voice," he explained, lowering his voice. "I heard, 'John, please find me.'"

Elizabeth looked down as she remembered whispering those words to herself. At that time she was in so much despair that she doubted that Mneme was real and only a vivid fabrication of her mind.

"Later that night a voice directed me to 'look up'. That was when I found the triangle keystone," he continued.

Elizabeth looked up again. "Maybe it was her," she said hopefully.

"That is what I am hoping. I will find her and we'll fix this. Everything _will_ be normal again." He gave her hand another comforting squeeze.

Before she let go of his hand, she looked into his eyes. "Be safe," she said.

She watched Lorne and his men follow John out of the infirmary and sighed.

"They will be just fine," Carson said approaching to her bedside. "You're looking very well today, doctor. The color has come back to your cheeks."

"Does that mean you'll be releasing me soon?" she asked hopefully.

"If you keep recovering as well as you have been, then it's a safe bet you'll be out very soon. It's kind of disheartening that all my patients can't wait to get out of here."

"That is because you are always sticking large needles into their arms when they aren't ready," Rodney said, strolling into the room.

"Rodney, I was wondering where you were," Elizabeth smiled. "I thought you would have gone with Colonel Sheppard to M5G-382."

"I was, but Colonel Caldwell decided to keep us behind this time. He didn't think that Sheppard needed us there. So we thought we'd come and visit you."

"We?" Elizabeth asked puzzled.

"Yes, Teyla and Ronon..." Rodney turned around to find no one behind him. "They were just behind me."

"And there they are," Elizabeth said as the doors to the infirmary slid open. "Hello, Teyla, Ronon."

"Doctor Weir?" Teyla greeted Elizabeth with an unsure tone. "Colonel Sheppard spoke much of you. To be honest, we did not believe what he said."

"We pretty much thought he was crazy," Ronon said bluntly. Teyla gave Ronon a quick glare.

"Yes, he told me as much," Elizabeth chuckled. "I know this is awkward. I have memories of everyone and all the things we've been through ever since our arrival here, but none of you can recall my existence."

During this time, Rodney had his arms crossed over his chest and one hand under his chin as he tried to remember something. "Did you used to have blonde hair?" he suddenly asked.

"Why do you ask? Do you remember something?" she asked.

"Not really, I just have a thing for woman with blonde hair, so I was trying to imagine you blonde."

"Yes." Elizabeth resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "I had a blonde phase for a short time, but that was when I was still on Earth."

"Doctor Weir, if the Colonel cannot find a way to reverse this, do you think that eventually this memory lapse would fade away on its own, now that you are present?" Teyla asked.

"I honestly don't know," Elizabeth said. "Right now, John is my only hope."


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

"So you found Doctor Weir," Major Lorne said dodging another low hanging branch.

"Yes, I did," John said as he led the way to the ruins. "Did you doubt me, Major?"

"Would you blame me if I did?"

"I'd blame you for being faithless to your superiors. But you _did_ have enough faith to let me go and find Elizabeth. So you're forgiven. I guess." Lorne resisted the urge to roll his eyes at John. "So how were things while I was gone?"

"The same ol', same ol'," Lorne shrugged. "The docs going all crazy over some new symbols they found in the database, Ronon and Teyla kicking everyone's ass during training. You know, the usual,"

"No close encounters of the Wraith kind?"

"Not since the last time we were here."

John nodded and pursed his lips together. "Let's hope we didn't just jinx ourselves now."

"Yes, sir." Lorne glanced back at the other three members of his team who were steadily keeping up with them.

After ducking and dodging through the forest for fifteen more minutes, they arrived at the tomb entrance.

"Okay, that triangle hole wasn't there the last time I was here," Lorne commented.

"Well," John unstrapped his backpack and knelt down to open it. "I was a busy bee once you guys left."

"What is that?"

"Watch." John pulled out the triangle keystone and placed it into the triangle slot.

Like before, the top immediately slid open revealing the staircase into the catacomb.

"Yeah," Lorne tried to peer down the dark entrance. "That stairway to oblivion wasn't there either."

John stood up wiping the dirt off his pants, picked up his weapon, and switched on the flashlight.

"All right, you guys can stay and wait for me here."

"Sir?" Lorne and the other men looked at John skeptically.

"It's a dead end. I couldn't escape even if I wanted to."

"With all due respect, I think at least one of us should go down and cover your six, sir."

"No," John said firmly. "You guys can cover my six here. It is not necessary for any of you to come down with me. There is nothing there other than a bunch of dead bodies. Unless you guys encounter some necromancer, I'll be fine. If anything happens, contact me by radio. I'll come right out."

"But—"

John held up a finger to stop Lorne from finishing his sentence. "End of discussion. Now the sooner I go down there and figure out what the hell is going on, the sooner we can go home and call it a day."

Before waiting for any affirmation from his men, John quickly dashed down the stairs into the tomb.

The tomb smelled damp and dusky from the rain a couple days earlier, but now was not the time for observations, and John started to jog straight towards the room where he had found Elizabeth.

When he entered the room, the orb had started to glow faintly. He did not remember that happening the first time he entered, but he was not paying attention to the orb the first time around. He shined the flashlight around the room to see what he could find, but he found nothing.

He looked back at the orb and saw it begin to glow brighter than before. John was sure that the orb was responding to something. Elizabeth had said she saw Mneme in here, so he tried calling for the Ancient the only way he knew how.

"I know you're in here." John's voice echoed through the room and down the corridor. "Mneme? Elizabeth told me that you appeared to her. You explained to her what happened to us. She also told me that you said that this couldn't be reversed. But I don't believe that. If this was irreversible, then why help us at all?"

He walked around the room and waited for a reply.

Nothing.

"Hello? Mneme? The Keeper of the Forgotten Realm? Ghost of the Ancients? Whatever. I came back here, specifically, to speak to you." John was getting impatient. Suddenly the orb in the room grew even brighter. John raised his arms to shield his eyes from the brightness. As soon as the light dimmed he lowered his arms to see a woman standing across from him.

"Mneme?"

"Yes," the woman nodded. "You are John. How is Elizabeth?"

"She's doing better."

"That is assuring to hear." She gave John and slight nod.

"She is the reason why I'm back here," John said stating his business. "The effects of Lethe have not been reversed. I'm still the only person who remembers Elizabeth. Is there a way to reverse this?"

"You have proven to me that not all things can remain forgotten or lost."

John furrowed his brows. Why did Ancients alway insist on confusing the hell out of everyone? "But I'm not the first to remember someone after Lethe was touched, right?"

"Yes, but he did not seek to reverse the process. This place was his final resting place." She gestures towards the dark corridor.

John did not like the sound of that. "Obviously, Elizabeth and I are a special case. So is there a way to bring Elizabeth's existence back into the universe short of blowing this place up?"

"What do you think?" Mneme looked straight into John's eyes.

"I'm all for blowing this place up. It hasn't given me any fond memories. But I have a feeling there's more to it than destroying the source." John knitted his eyebrows together as a solution came to him.

"Please," she said patiently, "explain your thoughts to me."

John pointed to Lethe's twin. "Why have two? Unless one is the 'on' and the other is the 'off' button. I'm thinking the one up top is the 'on' switch, and this one _has_ to be the 'off' switch. And the reason this has never been reversed is because no one knew it was here, or they knew, but had no reason to use it. It also doesn't help that the entrance was sealed by a brick wall."

"As I have told Elizabeth, it is my punishment to remain here and remember the forgotten. I am forbidden to interfere with matters here."

"Yeah, I noticed that. You guys tend to screw up a lot and aren't allowed to fix your messes without _major_ consequences. Look, I'm not asking you to wave a magic wand and fix it. I'm asking you to _help_ me."

"You have already figured out the most vital information needed to accomplish this task. But I will tell you that this," Mneme placed her hand on the orb, "is not Lethe, but it is called Mnemosyne."

"Memory." The words slipped out of John's lips. "Thank you."

"I have done nothing. I have only informed you of what it is you wish to know."

"Again, thanks for helping me find Elizabeth."

"That was not me either. It was the strong bond the two of you share that led you to her," Mneme said with a smile.

"If you say so," John said with an understanding smile. He put down his gun and rubbed his sweaty palms over his pants before wrapping his hands around the glowing orb. He slowly turned the orb until it dimmed and eventually went dark. At the same moment, John realized that the room was pitch-black except for the small flashlight attached to his P-90. Mneme had disappeared again.

"Okay…" He looked around wondering if it had worked. "How do I know if it worked this time?" he asked the darkness.

Then he noticed a small light emanate from Mnemosyne. The light slowly increased and continued to brighten until it was blinding. John stepped back and covered his eyes. The he felt the same familiar pulse erupt from the orb like the first time, forcefully knocking him over a second time.

Again, everything went black.

* * *

By the end of the day, Elizabeth was able to convince Carson to release her under the condition that she promised not to do any work and got some rest, which meant instead of resting in the infirmary, she was sent to rest in her quarters.

Her quarters? Didn't John say that all traces of her and her things had disappeared in this world?

After changing into her blue buttoned down shirt, she picked up the thick book John had lent to her from the bed and flipped through the first few pages before realizing reading was the last thing she wanted to do at the moment. Instead, she looked around her room and found everything _exactly_ the way she remembered. It occurred to her that this was odd for a 'reality' in which she supposedly did not exist, yet all her belongings were present. Then she thought back to John telling her that he could not find _any_ trace of her existence other than his own memory of her.

Did this mean that John had successfully reversed the affects of Lethe? Or was this another bad dream and she was still in the catacombs? This would not have been the first time she experienced a false reality... She shuddered at the memories of her previous experiences of deceptive realities. At least this one did not _feel_ like nightmare, not yet.

She tossed the book back onto the bed and decided she needed to do some reconnaissance and figure out what was happening to her.

* * *

"Elizabeth?" Rodney said with a surprised look on his face. "Didn't Carson say you need to be resting?"

"Yes, he did. This may sound like a ridiculous question..." Elizabeth hesitated before continuing. "Who is the leader of the Atlantis Expedition?"

Rodney looked at her with a befuddled expression. "Is this a trick question?"

"No, I swear. It's not," she said suppressing a chuckle.

"Are you sure? Because you know trick questions are never fair to throw at a person at a random time— Are you _sure_ you should be out of bed?"

"Rodney, just answer the question, please."

"You are," Rodney said matter-of-factly.

Elizabeth let out a relieved breath. "Thanks. Now how long have Sheppard and Lorne been gone?"

"Almost eight hours."

"Have they radioed back to check in?"

"Yes," Rodney said, returning his attention to the laptop in front of him. "Lorne radioed in during the scheduled time reporting that Sheppard was down in the tomb searching for something and that it was going to take a while."

"No," Elizabeth shook her head. "They should be back by now."

"How do you know?"

"Because they already did what they were sent to do," she said vaguely.

Now that her existence was replaced into the world, she wasn't sure how this change affected everyone else. She remembered everything that had happened to her from the moment she awoke in the dark tomb to the present. But it seemed as though there had been no change for Rodney. He acted as though Elizabeth had been on Atlantis all along. However, his reaction to her now was quite different from their encounter earlier in the infirmary.

"And what exactly were they sent to do?" Rodney's question brought Elizabeth back out from her thoughts.

"You don't remember why they went?"

"I remember _where_ they went. They went to go check out the ruins again. As to _why_, I haven't a clue. We already did a complete data compilation of the ruins the last time we returned there."

Elizabeth thought about a way to ask her next question without sounding crazy, but there was no other way of asking it. "Was I there?" she finally asked cautiously.

"Are you sure you should be up and about? Because these questions make it sound like you are having some memory lapses. Not getting enough rest is definitely—"

"Rodney," she said with restrained irritation. "Please, was I there?"

"Yeah, you were. That's how you broke you arm. The Wraith went WrestleMania on you and slammed you against the wall."

"And then?"

"Then we came back and patched you back up. This morning Sheppard told you something and convinced you to let him go back to M5G-382 to... do something."

"Thank you, Rodney." Sometimes getting answers from Rodney was like pulling teeth. "That is all I wanted to know. Right now, I want you to dial the gate and try to contact Colonel Sheppard or Major Lorne."

Rodney was about to protest, but the seriousness in Elizabeth's expression made him quickly change his mind. "Okay," he muttered to himself and dialed the address to M5G-382.

They watched as the lights around the Stargate chevrons lit up one by one, and the familiar _kawoosh_ of the established wormhole echoed in the gateroom. Elizabeth waited for the chime of the communicator to come online before speaking.

"Colonel Sheppard, this is Weir. What is your status?" Elizabeth looked over at Rodney, whose expression seemed to say "I told you so."

"Colonel Sheppard, please respond."

"You said the first time that thing in the ruins disrupted your radio signals. Maybe the same thing is happening now."

Elizabeth took Rodney's suggestion into consideration, but her gut feeling told her otherwise. She stepped out to the balcony over the gateroom, watched the ripples of the event horizon, and continued to try contacting John and his team.

"Major Lorne, this is Weir. Please respond." She let out a sigh. Someone should have responded to her call by now. If John or Lorne were out of radio range, one of the lieutenants accompanying them should have responded. Sometime was wrong.

"Rodney," she turned away from active Stargate. "Something is wrong. Get Stackhouse and his team up here, and I want Ronon and Teyla with them."

"What are you doing?"

"I'm sending a search party."

Rodney called out to Elizabeth as she reached the bridge to her office. "And where are _you_ going?"

"I'm going with them."

"Elizabeth, your not even fully recovered yet," Rodney said. "You're handicapped!"

"I am fine, Rodney. Carson wouldn't have released me if I wasn't. Now get Stackhouse's team ready," she ordered.

"Fine," he said grudgingly, and followed her order, while she went to her office to retrieve her uniform jacket.

Within twenty minutes, Ronon, Teyla, Elizabeth, Stackhouse and his team, were waiting for the gate to establish a connection.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Ronon asked looking at Elizabeth's slung arm. "I don't think Sheppard would approve."

"Colonel Sheppard would most likely not approve, but I don't need his approval for my decisions."

"If you say so—"

Teyla's elbow nudged Ronon's side for him to stop talking. "Why do you think Doctor Weir has requested us to join her?"

"Because Sheppard would approve of that," Ronon said.

"Most definitely," Elizabeth agreed.

When the wormhole was finally connected, Ronon and Teyla took point as everyone followed quickly through the gate.

As soon as they arrived on M5G-381, the teams started to search the vicinity for any signs of danger.

"Ma'am!" Stackhouse called out to Elizabeth.

Elizabeth's hand grazed over her thigh to make sure her side arm was secure and made here way to Stackhouse, who was kneeling next to a downed lieutenant.

"Lieutenant Krauss? What happened to him?"

"I have a pulse," Stackhouse reported. "He's breathing normally, no visible external wounds."

Lieutenant Krauss finally regained consciousness and groggily brought his hands to his head.

"Lieutenant?" Elizabeth knelt down on one knee to talk to Krauss. "Can you tell me what happened?"

"I'm not sure, ma'am. I was here with Reed securing the Stargate, when we suddenly felt some strong force hit us. Must have knocked us out."

"What about Colonel Sheppard and Major Lorne?"

"The last I heard was from Major Lorne. He said that the Colonel had gone into the tomb by himself. It was a while after that we were knocked out... I think," Krauss recounted with concentration.

"Thank you, lieutenant." Elizabeth stood back up. "Teyla, can you and Lieutenant Kirkland keep an eye on Krauss and Reed?"

Teyla nodded. "Yes, of course."

"All right, Ronon and Sergeant," she pointed to Ronon and Stackhouse, "let's proceed."

Ronon automatically took point and led them towards the cemetery ruins. Every now and then he would slow down to make sure Elizabeth and Stackhouse were keeping up with him.

When they reached the tomb entrance, Ronon was already kneeling over Major Lorne's unconscious body.

"He seems to be okay," Ronon said checking Lorne's pulse.

Elizabeth looked over to Stackhouse who was checking the status of the marines that accompanied Lorne.

"All right, you guys stay with them." She took the flashlight she had been carrying and switched it on as she headed towards the stairs leading down into the dark tomb.

"Where are you going?" Ronon asked.

"I'm going to find the Colonel," she said and started down the stairs. She reached the bottom of the stairs, and shined the light into the dark corridor. Her memories of the days she spent alone in this tomb came rushing back to her.

She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and gripped the flashlight in her hands tighter as she moved forward. She kept her focus on the straight path and tried not to look over into the slots where the dead laid. She continued to remind herself that John was at the end of this tunnel and it was her turn to find him.

She quickened her pace as her need to find John increased. Finally, she reached the room that was her prison for several days. She noticed the orb glowed faintly like it did when they first encountered its twin in the surface, but her examination of the light was put aside when she saw John slumped against a wall, unconscious.

"John!" She hastened to his side. She laid the flashlight on the ground so she could free her hand to gently cup John's face in her hand. "John?" she said softly. "John, can you hear me?" Her hand trailed down to his neck to check his pulse. Under her fingers, she felt the warmth of his skin and the light throbbing of his pulse. She brought her hand back up to John's face. "John, please open your eyes," she pleaded.

Suddenly a hand came up and grabbed her hand, startling her. John's eyes snapped open.

"John?" she said again when her alarm passed.

When his eyes focused, John realized it was Elizabeth who sat next to him. He freed her hand and let her bring her it to his face again.

"Shouldn't you be resting in bed?"

"According to Doctor Beckett, yes." She gave him a relieved smile. "Are you all right?"

The soft touch of Elizabeth's hand was tender. It made him forget where he was for a moment, until he saw another light bob into the room, followed by his Satedan teammate.

"I see you found him," Ronon commented when he entered the room.

When Ronon spoke, startled, Elizabeth jerked her hand away from John's face, embarrassed. She had been too occupied with finding John that she had not heard Ronon enter.

"Y-- Yes, I did," Elizabeth replied. "How are the others?" she asked Ronon.

"Same story as Krauss. They were knocked out by some strong force, but they're fine. How's Sheppard?"

"He's all right," Elizabeth said with a smile. "Can you get up?" she asked John.

"Yeah, I think so." He tried to push himself up, but staggered a little. He reached his hand out and used the wall to support himself.

"Here." Elizabeth was about to move and help give him support when Ronon cut in.

"Maybe I should do that," Ronon said.

"It's all right, Ronon. I've got him." Her eyes glanced up at the towering man.

"Elizabeth, I think you should let Ronon handle it."

"John, I broke my arm. I'm not handicapped. Besides, Ronon has to carry a few other people back."

Ronon shrugged and picked up the flashlight Elizabeth had left on the ground. He handed it to John and headed back down the corridor towards the exit.

"Now put your arms around my shoulders," Elizabeth commanded.

John could not help but smile at her order. "You sound like you are instructing me how to dance."

Elizabeth looked at John like he was mad. "Apparently, I'm instructing you to walk. Now put your arms around my shoulders." He shook his head and complied with her command.

"So, did it work?" he asked as they made their way through the long corridor.

"What do you think?" Elizabeth said with a smile.

"I'm guessing it did. Caldwell would never have let you come out on a mission to find me, _especially_ in your condition." He looked at her broken arm. "How's the arm?"

"Still broken. I won't be doing any heavy lifting for a while, aside from letting you use me as a crutch," she said. "You'll owe me for this."

John smiled. "You know, you didn't have to come and get me yourself. Ronon can carry three guys at once, one in each arm and another around his neck."

"I don't doubt that," she smiled, "but I wanted to come."

"Why?" he pursued.

"Because you found me when no one else could."

"Elizabeth," he stopped walking and looked into her green eyes. "I will always find you."

Elizabeth drew here eyes away demurely from John's gaze and whispered. "And I will always find you too."

John used hand and turned her face to look at him. "And you did," he said, his voice soft.

He held her gaze a moment longer, then his gaze traveled down along her straight nose and down to her lips. Her eyes closed as his head leaned closer to her.

"Are you guys sure you don't need my help?" Ronon's voice erupted down the corridor.

John reluctantly pulled his head away and squinted into the direction of Ronon's voice. "We're fine," he yelled back and looked back at Elizabeth.

"Come on, let's get you home," she said, as if nothing had nearly happened between them.

"Yeah," his reply came out hoarsely.

"The medical team is on their way," Ronon added before he headed back outside.

Several minutes later, John and Elizabeth emerged from the dark underworld back to the surface to find medical personnel checking on Major Lorne and his teammates. A medical member immediately came over to relieve John's weight from Elizabeth and proceeded to check him out.

"Look, guys, I'm fine. I was just knocked off my feet," John said looking at Elizabeth helplessly.

"That's what I tried to tell them, sir," Lorne chimed in. "But I learned you don't question the doc, with the giant needles in her hands," he said then glanced at the female doctor next to him.

"Well, gentlemen, it's all for the best. I'm just glad that you guys are all safe," Elizabeth smiled.

"And everything is back to normal," John added.

"Yes," Elizabeth said with a relieved smile. "As normal as our life could ever be."

"Normal?" Lorne looked at John and Elizabeth in befuddlement. However, from the looks his superiors were sharing with each other, he decided to let the inquiry slide and look the other way. Things were definitely back to normal.


	10. Chapter 10

_**A/N: **I have finally completed this fic. It only took a couple years to get this fic completed and posted. I just wanted to say that this is one of my favorite stories that I have written about John and Elizabeth so far, and I am happy to share this with everyone. I'm also glad to see many of you also like this story as much as I do. So thanks again and thanks my beta for letting me leave her hanging as she waited for me to give her the next installments to beta. Thanks SallyLizzie! _

**Chapter 10**

Elizabeth flipped through the pages of the thick book she was holding to make sure she had not left any extra bookmarks behind. After finding nothing the second flip through, she closed the book and knocked on the door to John's quarters.

"Come in," John's voice muffled through the door.

She waved her hand over the door sensors and entered to find John sitting at his table working on his laptop.

"Elizabeth?" he said, turning to see who had entered. "You're up late."

"I saw your light on and thought I'd drop by to return you this." She held out his thick _War and Peace_ novel.

"You already finished it?" He spun his chair around to face her and draped one arm over the back of the chair.

"I did. Having your arm broken for over a month really forces you to have a lot of free time. It also helps that the minute details Tolstoy writes is very engaging and intriguing."

"_Very_ detailed," he agreed. "So how does it feel to no longer be considered a handicap?"

"I'll have to admit. I'll miss you carrying my tray for me during every meal."

"I'm sure we can work something out there," he smiled.

Elizabeth smiled and sat down on the corner of his bed.

"Something tells me you didn't just come over here to give me my book, especially at this hour of the night." He glanced out of his window and came to sit down beside her on the bed.

"No," she said wringing her fingers. "I've been thinking about what happened on M5G-382. From what I've gathered, no one remembers what happened at all. My disappearance never happened."

"Yeah, I gathered that much as well too."

"I have a theory," Elizabeth announced. "My theory is that maybe Mneme's orbs somehow thrust us into a parallel universe where..."

"The forgotten person ends up in an underground tomb?"

"Okay, not a really good theory," she said sheepishly. "I guess we'll never know how she did it."

"To be honest, I really don't care to know. I'm just glad you're back and everything is back to normal," he said. "But you didn't come here to swap theories either."

"No, it was something Mneme said to me the first time I met her, she said that I was sent down there because my 'beloved' had chosen to forget me. For the past month, I've been wondering what she meant by that."

"Well, obviously she was wrong."

"In what sense?" Elizabeth asked, curious.

"Well, I definitely didn't want to forget you, and your not my—" he stopped himself.

"Your what?"

"Beloved," he finally said in an uncertain tone. He turned away and scratched the back of his head, unsure of what to do next.

These questions that she raised reminded him of the several occasions when his feelings about her were in question. Did he care for her more than he liked to admit?

"John, when I was down there, I truly thought I would die down there and never see you again. I was so afraid, so alone in the darkness..." Tears started to form around her eyes as she remembered the despair and loneliness.

John took Elizabeth into a tight embrace as she let the feelings she had bottled up for the past month out. He still was not sure what she went through when she was imprisoned in the tomb, but he knew it had affected her. No matter how strong she was, it affected her. It affected him as well, even though he went through a completely different experience.

"It's okay, Elizabeth" he said in a soothing voice and rubbed his hand up and down her back. "You're not alone anymore. I'm here."

Elizabeth did not care how unprofessional they were being at that very moment. Right now, she needed a friend, and John was more than a friend at this time. He was her 'beloved.'

**---Finis---**


End file.
